Warframe: Prisons
by Kalenath Shok-Tan
Summary: Everyone knows what a prison is. A place where people who break the rules are confined. The reasons for confining are as varied as the people who are confined. There are some prisons, however, that have no walls. No bars. No hope. Some that are as inescapable as our own pasts. This story begins a day after my story 'Penance' ends. This is a fanfiction, I own no rights to Warframe.
1. Chapter 1

**Joining**

The room was packed but no one was being pushy. Brianna Executor stood by one wall, at least a platoon's worth of Tenno against another, some in warframes, some not. Everyone was on edge as the Reverend Mother slowly held out the cup to Sara who took it. Sara smiled as she drank deeply of the nanite filled milk. She drank slowly and carefully, wary about spilling a single drop of the priceless fluid.

"I didn't expect you to gulp, but this is a bit much, Sara." The Reverend Mother said dryly as Sara made it halfway through the cup. Sara flushed, but did not speed up. The appointed mouthpiece of the Clergy shook her head. "No one will rush you, but _Time_ is the most precious of human commodities. We rarely have as much as we need or wish."

Sara nodded as she finished the cup. "I know, Reverend Mother." The girl said formally as she handed the cup back. The not-quite-a-nun took the cup and it vanished back to wherever the Reverend Mother hid such things. "I still need to face Orokin justice."

A heartfelt groan went around the room, but Sara met the Reverend Mother's eyes calmly even as heavenly music soared inside her skull. Then more minds than hers crowded into Sara's head, but Sara was well versed in such and let it happen. It wasn't natural, but it felt right. The Corpus Clergy had centuries of experience in adding new members to itself, so they were gentle. Not that any of them would have dared be any other way with the Reverend Mother's _daughter!_

_I guess we cannot expect your daughter to be anything but stubborn, Reverend Mother._ That was Vina, the administrator of several Relays out in the Solar System. Like so many others, she could not be physically present, but she was there to witness for herself and other interested parties. _Then again, I remember Sara. _Sara flushed brighter as Vina's tone turned wicked. _I still expect to have you come back and help clean up, __girl__._

"I cleaned!" Sara protested as several people chuckled at her discomfiture. She had made a _spectacular_ mess in a Relay that some people still talked about to this day in mixed wonder and horror. Few knew how many toilets a Relay had. Sara _did_ for very good reason. An ill planned foray into systems she knew nothing about had backed up every single one of them.

_That she did. _Vina admitted. But then the administrator snickered._ But we always have more messes. _Her tone turned serious. _Have you decided on a career path yet, Sara?_

"Some."Sara said both to her mother and to the assembled minds of her new peers. "Definitely a tech related field. I am not a soldier and I am not going to be one. If needed, I will fight to defend myself and others, but I want to create things, not break them."

_That is good._ Came from Mercedes, Vina's paramour and Commander Horatius' wife. _I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope your life stops being so painful._ The empathy in her voice had Sara choking for just a moment.

"Life is pain." Sara's tone was flat but the Reverend Mother reached out, pulled her into hug and held her while she fought her emotions. Her eyes burned as the elder Clergywoman did nothing more, just held her. "I am sorry, Mom. I am so, so sorry."

"We both need some time to come to grips with this monumental change, Sara." The Reverend Mother reassured her. "Everyone is still worried about you, so Brianna has offered hospitality for you, Harriet and a team of specialists for the foreseeable future. I can't stay." Pain sang in her voice. Sara bowed her head and nodded. The Reverend Mother hugged her again. "That said? I am only a thought away now. You are not alone, Sara. You will not _be_ alone." She promised. "Lis is… um… Well." She made a face. "You know."

"She is very angry with me." Sara made a matching face.

"Putting it very mildly." Harriet sounded far more alive in her mind than she did in person as she laid a hand on Sara's shoulder. "I will stay with you, Sara."

"But… Tina needs you." Sara protested. Harriet's daughter defined the word 'odd' in many ways but she was a good kid. That said? Tina was a kid and learning all kinds of things as kids did through experience. Good and bad.

"So do you." Harriet replied. "Tina understands. What you did was insane, Sara. It was needed, so we understand that. But it was insane." She shook her head. "Nef Anyo may or may not keep his mouth shut. Anticipating people like him is difficult at the best of times. Either way, we need to make sure that this tower remains secure. For your safety and other reasons."

No one would say many of those reasons aloud. Eliza had not woken yet. Brianna Executor was living and working here. Kaitlin Executor was sleeping here despite everyone's attempts to wake her. Then there was Kat, the mother of one of the wardens of reality. That in and of itself was a good reason for all _kinds_ of people to ward this tower. Said wardens had very limited restraint when their kin were threatened. Even structures as incredibly robust as Orokin towers could be blown up, given enough power.

"I have no power over other people." Sara said weakly. "But I would really prefer people not die for me anymore. Jane had no family, did she?" She asked the Reverend Mother who shook her head. "I… She trained me well, but I wasn't close to done. She was not always an easy person to deal with. But now? I miss her."

"Jane was a good person." The Reverend Mother's voice was husky now. "She too was not a warrior. She went through anyone's definition of hell and took a long time to come to grips with her memories of that. With her grief. We all know grief, Sara. We all know pain. We are here to help each other. I need far more help than I care to admit sometimes. You will too after your ordeals."

The Reverend Mother hugged Sara again and released her. She smiled at her daughter as Harriet did the same leaving Sara to stand on her own two feet. Sara straightened and nodded to both Clergywomen.

"Orders, Reverend Mother?" Sara asked, only to flinch as Harriet reached out and flicked her ear! "Hey!"

"We are not a military, Sara. We deal with the Special Forces quite a bit, but we are not them." The Reverend Mother's tone was severe, but it was spoiled by the twinkle in her eye and the small grin that creased her lips. "We are a collective. We have to focus on our goal, which is the preservation of humanity. Brianna wants you under observation until Eliza wakes up. Until we know for sure that the Empress took no hurt from what you and the other did, we can take no action. I want to bring you to one of the colonies. I want to introduce you to everyone in person, but that will have to wait." Sara's mother shook her head. "I know what you fear, Sara and do not." She reassured the girl who stiffened. "Lis and I are talking when Nikis lets us. I will not abandon _her_ any more than _she _will abandon _you_. She loves you and you love her. I love her too. She knows you did this for her and she is..." The Reverend Mother broke off as Sara choked back a sob. "Sara, it is okay." She reached out and hugged Sara again. "Lis is angry and she has cause, but she _does_ love you. We will find a way." She grimaced again. "Probably an _odd _way."

"You don't _say!_" Sara chorused with at least half a hundred others in her mind.

"I have to go, Sara." The Reverend Mother didn't want to, that was abundantly clear. "Bek is starting his negotiations and I need to be there for some of that. I am pretty sure he is going to want us to approach Darvo for some attempt at reconciliation but after all of what he did to that poor boy? That won't work."

"Duty first." Sara hugged the Reverend Mother again and released her, stepping back to stand by Harriet who nodded approval. Sara bowed formally to the Clergy's mouthpiece. "I serve the Clergy."

"I did not want this, but we will make it work, Sara." The Reverend Mother bowed back. "And yes, Lis _will_ be involved somehow. I have no intention of getting between you. In _any_ way." She warned. Sara stilled as the Reverend Mother turned and left the room.

"Uh..." Sara looked at Harriet who shrugged.

"Lis is very upset with cause. What you did was insane. _How_ you did it was worse. That said, you had few choices and none of them good." The other Clergywoman replied. "We understand about families, Sara. We have several in our midst, if few with as...um… spectacular problems as you and your mother had or Janet and her brood." She shuddered. "Thank god!" Everyone shared the same feeling of relief as Harriet laid a hand on Sara's shoulder.

Harriet was a far cry from the first time Sara had seen her. Harriet had been a mess psychologically after what had transpired between her and a fairly scummy Corpus executive who had demanded she access the mind of a captured Tenno. A fairly memorable Tenno. Sara's mother in fact, before she had become the Reverend Mother. When Harriet had realized what the scum had really wanted, she had refused his orders and had paid for that both physically and mentally. She was much better now, but she would bear the scars of her ordeals for the rest of her life.

A mewl came from the side and Sara bent down to pick up her companion. Iso was all but bristling with barely restrained energy. Then again, he _was_ a kavat kitten, so such was understandable. His fur was a dull shade of brown and his tail hadn't grown all the way but to Sara? He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She had been both humbled and more than bit frightened by the responsibility that the Queen of Cats had literally dropped in her lap without even an explanation. But Iso was a good soul and Sara needed the comfort he provided. He would grow and when he did? He would be as dangerous as any kavat. For now though? He was almost as vulnerable as Sara and she promised herself again that she would protect him.

_Are you done, Mistress?_ Iso asked, not quite upset but close. _That mind stuff is weird._ Sara fought hard not to laugh as she looked at the kitten. For his part, the kitten was not mollified. _What?_

"That is how _you_ talk to me, Iso." Sara said with a smile as she hugged the kitten close but gently. "In my mind." Iso made a face and Sara chuckled. "Come on, Iso. Don't be prejudiced? There is enough of that in the Solar System." She nuzzled his face and he gave hers a lick. "I had to do it, Iso. I had to join my mom formally or all kinds of people would take advantage."

_They will try anyway!_ The kitten said with a growl that was more squeak than scary. _My mom explained __but it made no sense to me.__ I do not understand it all, but I am here, Mistress. _He nuzzled her face back. _We are together._

The love he shared with her soothed her soul even more than the Clergy could. More than one person in her mind heaved sighs of relief as Sara relaxed fully for the first time since the Reverend Mother had handed her the cup. Liriel had chosen well. The Queen of Cats was a very bright being and knew all to well the pain that came from being different. From being _made_ to be something that one did not wish to be. She understood Sara's mindset perfectly. Hence, why she had delivered Iso to Sara and vanished just as quickly a she had appeared. For her part? Sara was more than a bit troubled by the trust that Liriel had shown her. Add to that a bit daunted by the responsibility, but her aching soul was mending now so it was all good. Nothing could replace the love of her birth mother or her second adopted mother, but she could go on and would.

Admittedly with a little help.

"We face our future together." Sara reaffirmed the ancient Compact to her companion and then turned to Harriet who nodded soberly. "And what will the Corpus think of me having a kavat?"

"They can _think_ anything they want." Harriet extended a hand to Iso who let her pet him. "If they try anything else, we will 'explain' things to them." Her tone was serene, but her eyes held grim promise. "Or let Iso's _mother_ 'explain' things to them."

_No need to get vicious._ Iso complained when Sara tensed a little. _You know my mother doesn't want to be evil._ His tone was sad now and Sara held him close.

"We know, Iso." Sara reassured her sworn companion. "It just… What she does will bother anyone. She has no choice but to scare the..." She glanced at Harriet whose face was set. "...the _crud_..." She corrected herself quickly and Harriet smiled just a little. They had done a few 'discussions' recently about Sara's language. Language that had _not _been improved by hanging around Warrior Tenno. "...out of people. It is meant to be unsettling, what she does and it is." She stroked the kitten's head and he relaxed. "That said? She has never been less than polite to me and I… I am a mess." She admitted.

A cough from the door had all three turning to see a Nova Prime warframe standing there. She stood by the chair that had rapidly become the bane of Sara's existence. Two Clergymen in their formal robes stood beside the warframe. They seemed a bit nervous, and who could blame them? Nova warframes played with _anti-matter!_ For her part? Lilly seemed amused. The Tenno nodded to the chair as Sara groaned.

"Oh, no. Not _another_ brainscan." Sara begged weakly as Harriet took her arm in a gentle but clearly unbreakable grip. "I am so sick of those things."

"Sara." Harriet said mildly, but with enough force that it was clear she would drag Sara to the chair. For his part, Iso just sighed.

_Mistress, everyone is afraid._ The kitten begged her, eyes huge and beseeching. _You need to let them take care of you._

"I am not sure which of you is more evil, Iso." Sara complained. 'You or your mom. Those eyes are _dangerous._"

Sara let Harriet guide her to the chair and let Lilly seat her. It grated. She was not an invalid! She could do things for herself just like everyone else. Standing, walking, eating. She could do all of that as well or better than everyone else. But not everyone had held the disembodied mind of a dead Orokin emperor in theirs, so in her heart, she knew that she was being petty. That her pain was nothing compared to Lis' or Eliza's. Or _Lilly's_. Sara didn't know for sure what had transpired between the ancient Tenno Royal Guardswoman and the last Orokin Emperor, but what little she had felt from the mind in hers? It hadn't been anything bad. Sad to the point of heartbreak, but not _bad_.

"I will try not to complain too much." Sara said as she settled Iso in her lap and smiled a bit forlornly as the kavat spread himself out. She started to pet and his purrs were a balm to her soul.

"We are all worried, Sara." Harriet said with a small frown. "We should have waited, but you argued well. This needed to be done, if not quite this quickly." Her frown deepened and Sara sighed. "Sara, we will help as we can." Harriet promised as the two other Clergy members took up station behind the chair as Lilly started it off. "Brianna Executor has offered you hospitality and care to ease your recovery. Ease is something you sorely need right now. Add to that? The Tenno wish to know how to undo the binding." Sara stiffened in instant rebellion, but Harriet shook her head. "Sara, think."

"I..." Sara swallowed hard but then nodded. "We are a powerful weapon, as Nef Anyo found out the hard way. They need to know how to stop us if it comes down to it." Harriet and the two other Clergy nodded. "We are dangerous and dangerous allies make for nervous people." Harriet nodded again. "So…" She blew out a deep breath. "I will do as I am told. I want to see how I can help the Clergy, but you say this will?"

"The _last_ thing the Clergy needs is some residue of a dead Orokin connected to them through your mind, Sara." Lilly cautioned her and Sara shook her head. "Sara." Lilly's tone turned flat. "We can argue as to whether it was really him or not until the stars go cold and it won't change the facts. I _knew_ the Emperor. He tried to be a good man, but in the end? He was Emperor. He did not do the job by being _nice_."

"I… I know." Sara said in a tiny voice. "I don't remember anything, or feel anything that I cannot identify as my own, but I know he was sad. So very sad."

"Yes, he was." If Lilly's voice was trifle husky, no one was _about_ to comment. "This hurt us all, Sara. You know what we did."

"I don't know much, but what little I do know? You didn't have a choice." Sara reached up to lay her hand on the warfame's right hand where it lay on the controls of her chair.

"None that we could see." The ancient Tenno warrior laid her other hand on Sara's. "Courage, Sara. As uncomfortable as you may get? You are not alone. I am not leaving until and unless Lis, Eliza or one of the Princesses orders me to. Commander Petra understands. She has cut me detached duty orders."

"Um..." Harriet stared at the Nova Prime warframe. "For how long?"

Just the _thought_ of a warframe following Sara into some of the ultra secure Clergy facilities would give any number of Clergy's security specialists heart attacks. A heartfelt groan came from several of those into Sara's mind as Lilly shrugged. Several of said specialists started to protest in the Clergy massed mind and then cut off as the Reverend Mother growled at them. Wise.

"Until I am ordered otherwise." Lilly's tone brooked no further comment and Harriet nodded.

"And I thought my life was complicated _before_." Sara sighed as they approached a doorway and Brianna Executor appeared in it, a sympathetic smile on her face as she beckoned to Sara. Sara put on a brave face. "I am ready."

Lilly did not comment further as she guided Sara towards the room filled with scanning equipment. She did pause as another warframe appeared nearby, but the Hildryn frame simply bowed her head to the Royal Guard in passing and then continued on her way. The way she did it was oddly formal.

"Lilly?" Sara asked as she was guided into the scan room. "Do you know that Tenno?"

"No." Lilly mused. "I don't."

"So, why did she…?" Sara broke off as Brianna frowned. "Apologies, Brianna Executor."

"So formal, are we, Sara?" Brianna's face creased into a smile. Sara grimaced but then relaxed as had been the healer's intent. "That Tenno brought in a pair of orphans who needed medical care. She asked to stay until they were out of danger. They are and she is heading back out into the field."

"What is her name?" Lilly asked as she guided Sara to the table that would be her home for the next few hours. "I don't know her."

"She gave the name Helen." Brianna went still as Lilly did. "Problem?"

"I don't know any Helen who wears a Hildryn warframe." Lilly said slowly. "Can you ask her to-?" She broke off as Brianna made a face. "Let me guess."

"She just left." Brianna shrugged as Lilly groaned halfheartedly. "I can try to track her if you wish."

"Later." Lilly replied, focusing on Sara who was also frowning. "It is not life threatening. Just weird."

"Story of my _life_." Sara replied as she lay back on the scanner.


	2. Chapter 2

**A cry for help**

Avalon

No one saw her arrive.

No one would see her unless she wished it. It was part and parcel to what she was, what she had always been. External things had changed significantly over the years, but in her heart, she was still almost exactly the same being she had always been. If there was _one_ thing that the being once known as Natah and more recently as the Lotus knew, it was stealth.

None of the human guards or crowds of civilians on Avalon had any inkling that she was there as she passed through what had once been a hideaway for the elite of an Empire and then had turned into a refuge for anyone who could be reached in time.

Then she came to the Royal quarters and paused. The Royal Guard were on full alert. That was good and bad. Good in that Jesse, Michelle, Ess and Aerie were well protected. Bad in that even Natah would likely trip alarms as soon as she approached. Any reaction to said alarms would likely not be on the restrained side. Not _here_ of all places. Not with the Empress indisposed.

Which was why she was here. Now.

Natah gave herself a firm shake and turned to a set of doors that few knew existed. She activated the doors and smiled inwardly as a sensor telltale made up of blue computer code shimmered and vanished. Jesse was so smart as to be scary even to a being who was not human. Natah's smile turned melancholy as she stepped to one wall, well away from the chair that had been her home for so long. Similar chairs existed across the system and one had been on Luna when Ballas had- She shut that thought away firmly. Later. She had a mission. The datastreams that flowed across each wall sang to her, begged her to touch them again, but she dared not. Not without permission. She resolved to wait. She did not think she would have to wait long and was not surprised.

"Lotus." A hologram of Jesse appeared against the far wall, the Cyberlancer's shields glowing with power even here. Natah smiled in approval. The girl was smart, but still lacked experience. Even as a hologram, there were things out there that could hurt or kill her, so Natah was pleased the girl was taking precautions. Jesse held a special place in Natah's heart. Not quite one of her adopted children, but close. She loved all the Tenno, faults and all, but Jesse? More so for so many reasons. "This is unexpected."

"Cyberlancer." Natah inclined her head in human greeting. "It is good to see you again."

"You disappeared." Jesse said softly. "You said you were going home."

"I did." Natah did not react as a cloaked form appeared beside Jesse, dark energy swords in his hands. Draco was ready to fight even here, even now. "I am not human, Jesse." The being once known as the Lotus said quietly. "I never was."

"I know." Jesse was so still as to look almost painful. "Do we fight now?"

She fought to hide it, to conceal it, but to Natah? The pain in Jesse's voice was clear as day. It was also heartbreaking. The pain of a daughter who knew all too well the price of betrayal. Who knew far more _about_ far more than was safe for her to know. Someone so powerful that even Natah's father Hunhow would walk carefully around her. Someone who had counted the Lotus a friend and a mentor. Who had never shied away even knowing what the Lotus was. The girl's control had improved though. Her code didn't waver despite her emotions and Natah smiled a little forlornly.

"No." Natah bowed her head. "Today? I come in peace, Cyberlancer. Princess Jesse." The inhuman form shook her head. "I come with a warning and with a plea, Princess."

"A warning?" Jesse's hologram had relaxed a little. That faded. Now? She was a grim statue.

"A warning and a plea." Natah repeated. "I know what happened to Sara and to Eliza. I know what he did and I know why." Jesse stared at Natah who remained impassive.

"The witnesses say he told everyone that Eliza was dying." Jesse said slowly. Natah nodded. "You _knew?_" Barely controlled rage sang in the Cyberlancer's tone, but she _did_ control it. Again, Natah felt approval. Jesse may not have started out a Princess, but she was learning fast.

"I knew." Natah said sadly. "It was her secret, Jesse. A secret of the Royal Family. Their curse. That was part of the promise she took from me to allow me to come here in the first place. That I not speak of the pain she was enduring. She was the _last_, Jesse. The _last of the Royal Family_. Just like I thought _I_ was the last of my kind. Despite my past and hers? She let me live. She helped me, hid me from my enemies _and_ hers. I was not _about_ to betray Eliza!" The biometal walls might have bent away from her grim resolve. "She was and is my friend."

"That must be a hell of a story." Jesse said and the Lotus nodded. "And you are here… now… why?"

"Her father, if that _was_ her father, may have meant well." Natah fought a human sigh. It was hard after so long around such frail, fallible forms. They were infinitely adaptable, almost as much as her kind. "But even if so? He did not have all of the information. No one does. Not me. Not you. Not even Eliza."

"No one being that I know of can know it all." Jesse said very softly and Natah nodded.

"No." Natah replied. "My kind have limits just as yours do. The problem is that a few of those limits have been passed. If Eliza wakes and is whole, then that is a good thing. But if her access to the crown is curtailed at all, that is not." Jesse stilled and Natah nodded. "I know what the crown is and what it is not. During one of our long talks, she allowed me to study it. What I found horrified me and she made me swear binding oaths never to speak of except in grievous extremity, which this may be and only to another member of the Royal Family of which we thought there were no more. I break those oaths today. To you, Princess."

"Why?" Jesse asked slowly.

"I need to talk to Ess." Natah said softly. Jesse stiffened in instant rebellion and Natah nodded. "I know she is better. I know that Eliza and Aerie were working hard to keep her occupied with her music, but I also know that she is the _only_ one authorized to talk to the people that I _have_ to talk to. Not even Nikis is _supposed_ to talk to them." She made a face. "Not that I would try and talk to him. He still hates me, with cause. I like my health."

"Why?" Jesse demanded. "Ess has suffered enough!"

"I agree, but Ess is physically the eldest of you." Natah warned. "If Eliza… is proven incapable..." She was very careful with her words. "...then the Crown will do what it was built to do. It will focus on the _next eldest_. Ess." She nodded as Jesse paled. "She won't be able to handle it. I know how broken she was. I know how careful you and the others have been with her." Jesse stilled yet again and Natah shook her head. "I have talked with Eliza a few times since I left. I miss her." She fought to keep the pain out of her voice, but from how Jesse did _not_ react? The human form alien did not succeed. "I may not be human, Jesse, but I do understand pain, fear, regret, all of that. After so long guiding the Tenno and guarding my children, I know those all too well. My children have moved on and good for them. Their lives may improve or not. I have no control over that. I can hope they find happiness or least a measure of safety in this insane world we occupy, but I have no power over that now. I hope to see them again someday, but that is the future and even an Oracle cannot tell what will be."

"They can only see what _might be_." Jesse swallowed hard. Such a burden as her birth mother bore was not for the timid or weak of mind. It had crushed many souls throughout Orokin history. It had nearly crushed her birth mother_._

"I talked with your mother before I came back here, Jesse." Natah would not have missed the sudden tension in Jesse's code if she had been blind. "She feels for all of you. Eliza, Michelle, you, Ess, Aerie. She is blind to those she feels the most for and she feels for all of you. Call her. She is listening I bet."

Jesse stared at the Sentient in mostly human form for a moment and then her eyes went distant. A moment later, a white transparent form appeared next to Jesse. Janet wore her full attire as an Oracle, White full body robe, white head covering with her face half concealed.

"I can't see any of this." Janet said quietly. "I am too close. It blurs. I see so many potential futures unfolding from here. Some good, some bad, far too many to even see the cusp points. I cannot be sure of what to think."

"Do not try." Natah warned as Jesse opened her mouth, likely to say the same thing as red as her face got. The Princess recovered swiftly. "What will be, will be, Oracle." She bowed to Janet, one female with a horrific burden to another. Janet bowed back. "I give you my word that I will not let harm come to Ess due to my actions. She has suffered _enough_." Again, metal would have bent. "You and she are needed but you need to take care of yourselves as well. Humans are as humans always have been. My kind are as my kind have always been. My existence is an anomaly. One that has caused far too much strife. Too much death, for my kind and yours. I wish harm to none." She slumped. "I never did."

"It is not your fault, Rebekah." Janet said firmly and Natah felt every fiber of her biometal body still as Janet smiled. "Eliza called you that and so will I." She promised.

"Eliza is just so _bloody_ _stubborn!_" Natah snapped and then she went still as both Jesse and Janet laughed. Then Natah felt her jaw crease in a smile. "Yes. Yes, she is, isn't she?"

"Yes." Jesse, Janet _and Draco_ chorused.

"I am not Rebekah any more than I am Margulis." Natah said sadly. "I have bits of them in me, memory among other things, but I am not them. They died."

"But their memory lives on." A new voice had everyone spinning to the door where Ess stood. Her face was pensive.

"Sister! No!" Jesse warned, stepping to stand between Ess and Natah who did not move.

"You have all been so kind to me." Ess said sadly as Aerie appeared behind her, Michelle holding the girl back as Royal Guard with drawn weapons crowded the area behind them. "But I do know my duty."

"You will come to no hurt by my will, Princess Ess." Natah said firmly enough that everyone took a step back but Ess. "Eliza needs help. I cannot give it. _You_ cannot give it. They _can_."

"Will they?" Ess asked. "I cannot see that. I care for her too dearly."

"And she knew that." Natah replied, not daring to move as three Royal Guard warframes entered the room to aim at her. They knew how to kill her and she was vulnerable here. Others moved to stand between her and the princesses. "You are her sister. A sister of pain, of blood, of loss! I know those far too well. She and I shared little but that. It was enough for the both of us at the beginning. Now? We are friends and so much more. You are hurting so badly even now and..." The non human's voice broke. "And you will step up anyway, won't you?"

She all but pleaded that. Was she begging Ess to do it? Not to do it? Hard to say.

"She says Eliza needs help, Jesse." Ess seemed on firmer ground now. "We do not understand the problem, do we, _Rebekah_?" Her face split into a small smile as Natah groaned.

"You are a bad as the _Empress_ is!" Natah complained, but did not dare move. Ess made a 'Who me?' gesture and Natah groaned louder. The Sentient in human seeming shook her head very slowly. "Have you taken your meds today?" Ess stared at her and Natah shook her head yet again. "I am not saying another _word_ until you take your meds." She crossed her arms.

"And you call _Eliza_ stubborn?" Ess said with an utterly fake sigh as Aerie tried to move forward, but Michelle held her back. The girl gave a small cry, but Michelle pulled something from the girl's hand and handed it to a Royal Guard in an Ash Prime warframe. The Tenno stepped to Ess, holding out the small injector in his hand. She took it, pressed it to her arm and smiled in relief as it hissed. "_There._" She snapped with equally utterly fake ire as the guardsman took the injector back with a bow. "Now _talk._"

"I _do_ call her stubborn." Natah replied, relaxing just a little. "Anyone else who went through what she did without the almost inhuman level of stubbornness she possesses would have perished. Both after she took the crown and _before_." At that, everyone in the room stilled and Natah nodded. "No one knows the entire truth but me and I swore never to speak of it. Not to _her_." She said when Jesse started to demand an explanation. "Ess… I cannot speak of it. She needs help and you can talk to them. No one else can. Not even _Kat_ can!"

"Kat?" More than one person in the room inquired as Ess stared at Natah, her eyes hooded. From her words, she did not mean Iriana's mate. She meant the woman who shared the Tower with Brianna Executor. With all of the baggage that woman held.

"What does Kat have to do with this?" Michelle asked when no one else broke the silence.

"Nothing." Natah replied. "And I want to _keep_ it that way." She said that so fervently that all the present members of the Royal Family smiled at her vehemence. Not that any blamed her.

"I cannot argue with that." Ess said slowly. "I haven't talked to any since I came here." She frowned. "I haven't had the courage to reach that far."

"You are sick!" Aerie protested, still trying to get loose form Michelle, but the elder Princess was having none of it. "Mom! You are still sick! Don't!"

"Physically, I am fine, Aerie." Ess said slowly. "Mentally? The calm and care that Eliza and others have given me has let my music out gently. Far more gently that I ever imagined. I expected to hear from them by now and I haven't." Natah smiled and Ess stared at her.

"They knew you and Aerie needed time, Ess. They were not going to press unless it was an emergency." Natah said gently. "But this?" She shook her head. "It is not an emergency. Not yet. Soon. Eliza couldn't plan for everything, but she sure tried."

"I think I am going to have to hear the story about how you and she met and didn't kill one another." Ess said as she took a step forward. Jesse hissed and blocked her way. Ess shook her head, her posture somewhere between resignation and amusement. "Jesse, if she wanted me dead, there are far better ways. Far _easier_ ways." Jesse stilled at the implied rebuke and the solid core of metal that sounded underneath Ess' tone. The warning. Ess would walk right through Jesse if she had to.

"I will not tell that story without Eliza's permission." Natah replied. "It might make her grumpy." Everyone winced at that, grumpy Empress was not a good thing.

"That bad, huh?" Ess smiled as she took another step and somehow slid between Jesse and the Royal Guard who tried to stop her. Her move was graceful, sinuous even as only a well trained dancer could be and in moments, she stood right beside Natah.

"No comment." Natah replied and Ess smiled wider. For the first time since she had arrived, her face was unguarded and emotions shone through. Fear. Sadness. Pity. Rage. All of those shone in her eyes. Her smile was heartfelt though.

"You know that just makes me more curious, right?" Ess asked but then nodded. "That said? Eliza has a hell of a temper, so I won't press until I can ask her."

"Yes, she _does_." Natah said so fervently that everyone in the room gawked at her. She shook her head savagely. "Do! Not! Ask!"

"Where to?" Ess asked as golden power built around her despite Jesse's sudden tension, despite Aerie's sudden wailing cry of fear. "My sister needs aid."

"There is only _one_ who can speak of what she and I swore of." Natah said sadly. Ess stilled and Natah nodded. "Yes. Him."

"I _hope_ you know what you are doing." Ess said in a very small voice as her golden power surrounded Natah and herself.

"Me too." Natah replied as the golden power snapped and they were suddenly elsewhere. Ess wilted for a moment and Natah reached out to steady her. She sent soothing energy to the faltering Oracle who smiled her thanks. Only then did she look around.

The natural looking cave they appeared in was as Natah remembered. The map on one wall. The racks of weapons on another. The small house with only three walls that now was unoccupied. The pile of gold _a__nd the huge silver scaled form that lay on the pile of gold._ The Lord of the Darkstorms in his full spleandor.

Four legs, two wings, long tail, long serpentine neck. Claws as long as Lephantis was tall scraped as he slowly eased back from a combat crouch. An eye as big as a Terralyst Sentient blinked once, then stayed open to scrutinize the two females. Then a mouth that would have easily swallowed a Grineer Ogma whole opened.

"I would hope that you have a reasonably good excuse for this trespass." The incredibly deep voice from the dragon was calm and assured, but as always, fury sang just underneath it. He had so many reasons for anger. "You know what we said we would do if you ever came back, _Rebekah_."

Oh, he was _way_ more than angry. Ess shied away from the Sentient as green energy suddenly coruscated around the human looking form. The Lotus just nodded.

"I do."


	3. Chapter 3

**To the Dark Side**

Even Tenno could die.

Cathi Gata fought to remain conscious as yet another flash filled with flammable liquid slammed into her warframe and covered the bio armor with flame. That was the third? Fourth? It was hard to tell. She was a bit focused on the huge hammer that stuck her to the wall and the Glaive that she was commanding to arc around, trying to keep the horde of lunatics at bay. At least the head nutcase had finally fallen to her attacks, but his parting 'gift' was anything but benevolent.

She had known as soon as she had taken it that this solo mission was a bad idea. She had hoped to have a member of her clan along for this, but none of them were available. With Will and Alicia sidelined for the foreseeable future, the clan was shorthanded and while many aspirants had flocked to try out for the clan, the entry requirements were as stringent now as they had been under Karl. That stood to reason, despite so many disappointed kin. The clan still held many secrets that were far too dangerous to be let out into public view. Just the ones that Cathi Gata knew about were bad enough. She knew there were others, but had no idea what they might be and had _no_ intention of asking. If there was one thing that any Royal Guard knew, even a shamed one like her, it was that secrets were secret for a _reason._

This mission had been straightforward enough. Descend into the depths of Saturn's gaseous mass that had not been altered into odd geoscapes for Orokin amusement in time immemorial. Find a specific target, capture him for interrogation, then get out. Simple. Or not.

It had become far less straightforward when Cathi Gata had arrived and found an entire _army_ of Corpus soldiers and proxies attacking the Grineer forces stationed in their outpost. She had planned the mission assumed conflict with Grineer. The clones had heavy armor, and carried firepower enough to preclude any frontal engagements. Despite their crude appearance and the less than intelligent rank and file, the Grineer had the strength of numbers. Theirs was a crude strength, but it was a hammer of sheer brute force that rivaled anything in recorded history. Only a fool faced such head on if given any alternatives and Cathi Gata tried hard not be a fool. She was not a stealth specialist like Aeron or Jill, but she knew when to pick her fights and when to ghost away from overwhelming forces. Valkyr warframe or no, she was not invulnerable. She was no berserker.

Funny...

That might have helped.

She had done the mission and was extracting when a howl had split the air and a huge form out of nightmare had simply appeared beside her, swinging a hammer that had to wight almost as much as she did. She had herd tales of the Wolf of Saturn Six, every Tenno had, but this was no tale. He should have been ponderous, slow like Lech Kril. He wasn't! He spun his hammer almost as fast as she spun her Glaive which was flatly impossible, but he did it. Then he threw it and despite her frantic dodging, his hammer had arced in mid-air just like her Glaive! It had hit her, sinking the pointy bits on the back of the hammer head right through her leg armor and into the wall behind her, pinning her in place. He had howled in triumph that had turned to terror as Cathi Gata's Glaive had morphed in mid flight from a Glaive to a Cerata. She was good enough with it that it had literally shifted every aspect of itself from a noble and pure instrument of Tenno vengeance to a sickly looking Infested version in the space of half a heartbeat. Where a regular Glaive sliced enemies, the Cerata did damage on a cellular level. The Technocyte toxins on even a regular Cerata were no joke at all, hence why only a Tenno in a warframe or someone with a _death wish_ touched one. Cathi Gata's version was _anything_ but regular. The massive armor plates that protected the insane fugitive Grineer had offered almost as much protection from that as ancient cheese might have. He had gone down in seconds, his armor and vast health eaten up by a weapon designed to defeat such horrors.

The problem? His hammer hadn't vanished when he had. Then his pack had taken offense at their leader's defeat.

Whoever these Grineer were, they were not very durable. Not even close to as durable as the Wolf had been. They didn't _need_ to be. Cathi couldn't dodge, stuck as she was. For every howling lunatic her Cerata took down, another took its place, hiding in shadows and tossing firebombs at her still form. Every time she saw one, she killed the misshapen form, but she was being worn down and it was only a matter of time. This time, there would be no coming back. This place was cut off from the Orokin network. Long, long ago, a cataclysm of some kind had torn the energy network of this section of Saturn to shreds and it had never been repaired. That was one reason the Grineer had flourished on Saturn. They could hide from Orokin surveillance. Many Grineer had sought some kind of release from their pitiful lives, and the few who managed to escape their slavemasters had quickly realized that Saturn was a kind of safe haven from Orokin retribution. That said? It hadn't been until the advent of the Twin Queens that they had realized any of that. With organization, their numbers had swelled and they had become the force that they were today.

No one had realized that the Grineer had dissidents in their ranks until the advent of Steel Meridian. No one had dared ask. Cressia Tal's creation of a resistance force of ex-slaves the Queens had met ambivalence on the part of many, but Cathi Gata admired the plucky former Grineer. She was not an easy person to like, but Cressia Tal's heart was in the right place. She knew that she had done evil and wanted to do what she could to make amends. Of all people, Cathi Gata understood that. She had talked with the leader of Steel Meridian many times. Worked with the former save and their human compatriots many times. The Tenno had been both humbled and honored when the clone had offered her the rank of General within the syndicate. It hadn't been for altruistic reason, of course. Cathi Gata was an ally. A powerful and capable ally who had proven over and over that she could get the job done. Cathi Gata would miss Cressia Tal and she knew the clone would miss her as well.

It wasn't what she wanted, but the Tenno blessed her foresight. This mission had gone seriously off the rails. She might survive this despite being disconnected. No one else would. They hadn't been happy, but had obeyed when Cathi Gata had sent the Steel Meridian Operatives home before infiltrating this place. Just the Corpus presence was bad enough The Wolf would have eaten them for breakfast and gone away hungry.

As the flames ate into her warframe and the pain became even worse, Cathi Gata tried once more.

_Lotus?_ She called in her mind, her mental voice weakening. Not even one of the Zarimon children could reach her here. For all their power, they were not gods. They had incredible strength, both Void based and mental, but they also had limits. _I am sorry. I failed. I failed… I failed Eliza._

She was barely aware of several forms in shoddy Grineer armor approaching her still warframe, weapons ready to cut and slice out of it. She was ready now. The pain had faded despite the flames that still burned on her. She was done. She could fight no more.

Then the impossible happened. The horde stopped. The feral clones stared from the burning warframe to the side and...

"Leave her alone."

The voice… Cathi Gata knew the voice! But that was _impossible! _ Her eyes went huge under her warframe as a bright golden Equinox warframe strode out of the shadows to stand in between Cathi Gata and the oncoming horde. Her golden Ninkondi were held in a grip that only looked negligent. Only an idiot assumed she was not ready to strike with the insanely fast weapons. _Gemina Horati's_ stance was just as perfect as ever as she stood between what had once been her sister and the now quailing horde of lunatics. That wasn't a shade! She was physical! That wasn't possible! She was dead! _Sun_ had killed her and he did _not_ make mistakes about such! But this _wasn't_ the slave mistress that Cathi Gata had trusted, who had drugged Cathi and seen her broken at the feet of a horror in human form. The voice was the same. But the waframe? No. It wasn't. The heraldry was subtly different. The Equinox was not wearing the sigils that Eliza's mother had given her. Marks on both shoulders that none of the band could or would have taken off! The marks of her bondage! As impossible as it was, this Tenno that stood before the trapped Valkyr _wasn't_ the woman who had so hurt Cathi Gata. This looked like Gemina Horati at her _prime_. A full commander of the Royal Guard! If so? Oh dear. The entire horde- maybe everyone on the _outpost!_\- had _no_ chance against her. Cathi Gata might or might not have had a chance, if she had been whole. Maybe. Not now at the point of final death.

"Run or die. It makes no difference to me." The one time leader of Cathi Gata's small band said with a growl that echoed the fallen Wolf and the pack retreated another step. "You will not harm her further. Fury?"

Someone was touching Cathi Gata and the flames that had surrounded her faded. A human shaped hand that glowed red-orange appeared in the stricken Tenno's vision. Armored? Or… Was that skin that looked like armor? It touched the bio armor on Cathi Gata's neck and power flared. Cathi Gata's pain that had been rising faded just as the fire had. Gentle fingers turned Cathi Gata's armored face to the side and she stared up at oddness.

The woman who stood before her wasn't one. That was abundantly clear from the odd armor she wore. From the red glowing hair and the eyes that were pure pits of the same color of red power. She was on fire, literally! But it didn't touch Cathi Gata? That wasn't Tenno energy. That wasn't Void Energy from a Zarimon child. It certainly wasn't anything _physical_. So… what? She was not tall, not broad, but only an idiot would take her lightly.

"We were in time, Gemina Horati. Her energy is intact." The voice from the odd woman spoke of raw power. Of anger that dwarfed anything that Cathi Gata had ever seen or heard of. "We need to get her out of here. What is it going to be, fools?" The odd woman asked as she let Cathi Gata's head go, rose to her feet and drew a hilt from her hip. What had to be a weapon snapped into a whip shape of long, red barbs of some kind. "I know what _I_ want to do." Her laugh was anything but calm and the lunatics took another step back.

Hard to blame them!

Loud noises heralded the battle from the outpost approaching the odd group and the lunatics eyed one another. Caught between a Tenno, an odd female form and a pitched battle between two powerful forces, they were wisely afraid, but they could see their prey bleeding. There were a lot of them, at least twenty and some held firearms as if they knew how to use them, but they wavered. Numbers meant little against an Equinox warframe and if this odd human shaped being was as powerful as she seemed? They were _dead_. The only real question was how much it would hurt.

"Don't be hasty, Fury. Slaughter is not our mission." Gemina Horati's calm was just like Cathi Gata remembered as her Ninkondi arced almost absently, her fingers flaring with power as she did a standing kata. Again! That was the _old_ Gemina Horati! The commander, not the slave and enslaver! "We need her. She may be Eliza's only chance."

"Party pooper." The flame haired woman all but wilted in resignation, but then she perked up as a roiling mass of clone and robots swarmed into view. The battle had reached them. "Ooo! Party time!"

"Fury!" Gemina Horati tried, but the other was off in a flash of red. The horde of lunatics melted out of her way. Literally in two cases. One moment the quailing nuts were standing there wavering, the next? They were smoldering corpses and the rest wisely took to their heels as the flamer haired woman shifted in between two steps. Her hair was now purple and a hammer of pure energy appeared in her hands as she crunched into the ranks of clone and proxies, taking them completely by surprise. Three clones went flying and would not get up, but there were so many _more_ enemies. The Equinox heaved a sigh and turned back to Cathi Gata who tried to stiffen, but failed miserably. The other did not approach. Instead, she spoke to someone _else!_ "Cathi Gata won't trust me." Wait a minute? How did Gemina Horati know that name? She had been _dead_ before Cathi Gata had changed her name! "Fury is powerful, but she cannot win alone."

"Fury is not alone." A cold, deep voice sounded from the side and Cathi Gata tried to look, but her head would not obey her as a shadow fell over her. "We need to get this one out of here and to healing. From what you have said, she will not trust you but I bet Strife can win her trust."

"I had better stay back." Gemina Horati sounded sick now. "Try not to hurt her? She is needed, now more than ever. If Eliza reverts… We haven't _seen_ bad yet."

'Reverts?' Cathi Gata asked herself as she shadow resolved into a form that was just as odd as the female form had been. But this one wore no armor. He, yes, definitely a he, wore a shoulder piece and robes of some kind that looked oddly arcane. But it was the _face_ that drew the eye. Or, the _lack_ of one! A bone white mask covered all but a pair of red eyes. Was that a skull? Not a human one, that was for sure.

"It is all right." The voice from behind the mask was kind. "You need help and _we _need _yours_." He took hold of the hammer that still pinned the warframe to the wall. "This will hurt." He warned and then he paused. The sounds of battle were coming closer. When he spoke again, it was resigned. "Aw well, we tried to keep it subtle."

"Let's get her out of here!" Gemina Horati snapped as a Hyekka dashed towards her, only to be slammed to the wall by a deft strike from the commander's Ninkondi. "Subtlety be damned, we need her!"

"Right." The skull mask was back in Cathi Gata's vision and then pain the likes of which she could barely fathom flared through her and she knew no more.

* * *

The battle

Everything stopped for a moment as Cathi Gata jerked, but did not cry out before falling to lie still in the strong arms of her rescuer. The dark form who held her still form hefted her easily as the golden Equinox warframe moved to flank him. The Grineer and Corpus forces all stared from the raging woman in their midst to the odd trio and back. Then a new form stepped out of nowhere to stand in between the two groups. His armor was dark and the robes that hung over it were the red of blood. His face was shadowed by a hood that showed only two blazing red eyes and an odd sign, a half moon with a line through it. That paled beside the sword with the hook in its point that he held in one hand as if the massive weight of metal was nothing at all. Whoever he was, he looked human, but he was much bigger than a human and-

"Die!" A Grineer fired his Karak at the newly arrived form who raised his hand that did not have the sword in it. The bullets bounced off an unseen barrier and whined away uselessly. One hit the wall next to Gemina Horati who did not flinch.

"Oh, come _on_, Death!" Fury snapped as she slammed a hapless clone with her hammer and there was nothing left of that Grineer, not even ash when she recovered it. "I have this under control!"

"Your idea of control is not the same as mine, Fury." The skull faced being said with a shrug as he hefted Cathi Gata's unconscious form. "The mission comes first, right War?" Was he being _snide?_

"It does." Now, the red garbed newcomer was striding towards the battle, the massive two handed sword easy in his hand. Death looked at his brother who shrugged but did not slow. "I am what I am, brother, but I have learned some."

"Yes." The one time leader of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse who had once followed the Charred Council replied as he stepped towards a portal only he and Gemina Horati could see. "We all have."

With that, the horseman and Gemina Horati vanished leaving the suddenly terrified ranks of Grineer to face two forms straight out of nightmare. The proxies regrouped and charged again, but their human controllers also felt fear as they gazed into the eyes of madness and it gazed _back! _

"What are you?" A Corpus managed to say as War reached the line of Grineer and the only word that did it justice was 'mayhem'. Clones and pieces of clones went flying as the blade and fearful energy alike sang.

"Oh, us? We are the stuff of nightmare." Fury replied absently as she slashed out with her whip and tore three Ospreys right out of the sky. A Tech fired at her with his Supra only to scream as she dodged, her power flared and four Corpus died with him as said energy flashed back along the line of attack. "A specific nightmare actually."

"Why are you here?" A Grineer screamed as War cut him in half. Was the huge sword wielder _sad_ when he replied?

"To save _everyone_ from an Empress' wrath."


	4. Chapter 4

**Lighter**

Cathi Gata was awake but she was not. She was aware, but she was not. She lay on a slab of stone that was warm underneath her. She wore no armor and was surrounded by forms she did not know, but she was not afraid. They were singing something softly in a language she did not knew, but…

Wait a minute! She _did_ know the language! And what they were singing! She knew that too!

'Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight  
Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight  
Somewhere out there someone's saying a prayer  
That we'll find one another in that dream somewhere out there'

How could Cathi Gata forget that? That had been Eliza's favorite song as a child. She had been so lonely, so lost and terrified even before her mother had started the evil that had been done to the poor girl. After her youthful misadventures, the girl had been so quiet and so careful for so long that many worried about her. That had actually been why Cathi Gata had been posted to protect her in the first place. Everyone had been worried about her. Daughters of the Emperor were not supposed to be introverts and Eliza had worried everyone when she had withdrawn so far. With the help of Cathi Gata among others, the girl had exited her cocoon, only to have horror land on her full weight when her mother's evil had been given free reign.

She bit back a sob as the music came to an end and white light shone around her. She felt bereft for a moment, but only a moment before a strong male voice spoke up from nearby.

"You are safe here, Guardswoman Cathi Gata." The Tenno opened her eyes to find herself lying on a crude bunk in what looked like a small cave. There was no door, but what looked like a hand woven blanket hung to block the sole exit. Her warframe was gone and her leg was bandaged, but careful movement showed no pain. A dark skinned man with a scraggy beard stood by the blanket, his face solemn. "How do you feel?"

"Strange." Cathi Gata admitted. She was clearly in no immediate danger. She should have felt wary, confused, angry? All of those. She didn't. She felt calm. "I feel strange."

"You came closer than I would have liked to never waking up. Ulthane is calling it a miracle and maybe it is? I don't know." The man said with a frown. "May I come I? We need to talk, you and I."

"Considering that I have no idea where I am or what happened?" Cathi Gata sighed and then nodded. 'I guess there is no need to be rude. I am Cathi Gata as you said. You are?" She waved him in and he nodded. No, that was a bow from the neck. Formal.

"My name is Strife." The other took one step in and then stood by the wall. "You were ambushed and critically injured on a mission." Cathi Gata stiffened and the man nodded. "Your prisoner was delivered. Your mission was done."

"I saw things that did not make any sense." Cathi Gata said with a frown that deepened as the other nodded. "So… What? Why am I here?" She paused and then sighed. "And where _is_ 'here'?"

"I can answer some of your questions." Strife replied easily. "You are currently within a haven that was set up in a realm called 'LostLight'. You will not know that place. This reality."

"Reality." Cathi Gata repeated slowly and Strife nodded. "Send me _back!_ I have _no_ intention of angering the wardens!"

She didn't know much about said wardens, just what she had gleaned during a mess with a pair of traitors to the Tenno. What little she knew of the wardens showed they had few scruples about using extreme overkill and less use for political correctness. Even now, Galintra's betrayal hurt, but Atlas had been right. Such a role was a life sentence at hard labor. More than one life if half of what Galintra had told her was true. The two Darkstorms she had dealt with had been scary powerful and if the others were just as powerful or more so? No, she had no plans to anger them.

"They know about this." Strife reassured her. "We told them as soon as we felt the prison start to break. We may have lost a lot of who and what we were, but a few of our duties were not limited by the Council. We encountered the wardens of reality a few times and deemed them colleagues of a sort. We had our duty. They had theirs. Such rarely interacted and we were never at cross purposes. Our masters eventually betrayed us, but we still do follow a few of the oldest ways. You are in no danger here. The hosts of both Heaven and Hell bar the way to any who would harm you."

"What?" Cathi Gata asked, stunned almost beyond imagination. He wasn't speaking metaphorically. "This makes no sense!" She shook her head savagely. "None of this makes any sense! Gemina Horati is dead!" She paused as Strife held up both hands in a warding gesture. "What?"

"You need to be calm right now." Strife all but begged her. "You came closer to true death than any of my family have seen recently. If you die, so will she! Then things will get very bad, very quickly as hurt as Eliza is. You are linked. You and Eliza are linked and she needs you right now."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Cathi Gata was on her feet, barely aware of the flimsy white nightgown that was all that covered her. "Leave the poor woman alone! She has suffered enough!"

"That she has." Strife was unmoved by her vehemence. That spoke of silliness or incredible power. The Tenno knew which way her senses were leaning and it_ wasn't_ towards 'silly'. "Her torments match any of ours. But no one in your reality has asked the _single_ most important question right now." Cathi Gata stared at him as he bowed his head. In sadness? "How did she survive what her mother did?"

"Eliza is strong." Cathi Gata scoffed only to stiffened as Strife laughed. "_What?_"

"Of _course_ she is strong." Strife snapped. "But no one has bothered to ask how she _got_ so strong, so fast. How she endured horrors that gave _my sister_ pause. You saw my sister. _Nothing_ gives Fury pause, but she nearly puked when she saw what Eliza endured. How long did her mother abuse Eliza, Guardswoman?" Strife demanded and Cathi could not meet his gaze. "How long?"

"Years." Cathi Gata's rage faded and in its place, sadness rose. "And I helped."

"You did." Stride's tone was odd. Not condemning. Agreeing? But with what?

"I..." Cathi Gata sank back to the bunk, anger gone. Tears were falling freely. "I thought I knew what I was doing! I did! Eliza was such a good kid and she was so hurting, lost and alone even in a crowd and I… I helped that monster _hold_ her! Drugged her for the others to abuse and I..." She was sobbing fully now and a weight settled beside her, a warm arm surrounding her. "I thought I was doing right!"

"I know the feeling." Strife said sadly as he hugged her gently. "Betrayal is never a good thing, but for people like us, with all the power we wield? Worse. It is never a good idea to push us too far. When we break, it gets bad. For us and everyone around us."

"I couldn't help her! I_ can't_ help her!" Cathi Gata sobbed as the other held her. "I want to and I can't!"

"You _can_." Strife said quietly and Cathi Gata stilled. "But it will change you. For the better? For the worse? I cannot say. I am not the Creator. She needs you now more than ever Cathi Gata. She needs _you_."

"She has guards, allies, _minions_." Cathi Gata grinned through her tears as Strife choked back a laugh. He _had_ to know Eliza and her response to such a word to react such a way. She was rarely polite when people said she had 'minions'. "How do you know her?"

"I and my kin met her when she came through the worlds warded by the Council. That was a very long time ago even as I count time." Strife replied. "She was one little girl, lost and adrift in a universe filled with hostility. Luckily, she was not alone as she tried to desperately to get home." Cathi Gata stared at the man, confused.

"I do not understand." The Tenno's confusion mounted when Strife nodded.

"I know. You do not remember." Strife sighed. "That _was_ for the best for all concerned at the time, but it does make for a mess right now." He released her, rose and stepped back to the wall. "I know what happened to Eliza and her father..." He paused and made a noise of scorn. "If that _was_ her father" He said grimly. "He may have meant well, but he just made a _serious_ mistake."

"I do not understand." Cathi Gata repeated.

"I know." Strife shook his head. "I will explain as I can. Will you listen?"

"I have to get back." Cathi Gata said after a moment. "But… If this is another reality, then time means… little..." She inhaled. Where had she heard those words before?

"Yes, time means little when crossing the barriers between realities. You should not even remember that." Strife was gentle but worried. "The memories were not just removed, they were supposed to be expunged completely from both you and her. She was needed there." He shook his head with a grimace. "Not that _any_ of us had _any_ idea of how bad it would get."

"I was with Eliza? Here?" Cathi Gata asked softly and Strife nodded. "When?"

"You met Eliza when the youngest daughter of the Emperor turned six." Again, Strife's words were not a question. "You were posted as her guard and she was less than enthused."

"Yes." Cathi Gata drawled that word out for at least three syllables worth. "She had every right to be annoyed but the Emperor commanded."

"At her mother's urging." Strife said quietly and Cathi Gata nodded.

"Hindsight is so much clearer." The Tenno said sadly. "She was unhappy. I did what I could and she eventually accepted me. Until… Until it got bad."

"And even then, she never blamed you." Strife wasn't asking, he was _stating!_

"No." Cathi Gata replied, pursing her lips in thought. "I didn't understand why. I never did. To this day, I don't understand. I tried hard not to hurt her, but I _had_ to obey. I think in my heart, I wanted to tell her, warn her, beg her to flee and I couldn't! I couldn't let her get away from the horror."

"She knew." Strife reassured the Tenno who stilled.

"How?" Cathi Gata demanded. "The compulsions were buried deep in my soul! I couldn't tell her! I barely knew which way was _up!_"

"That is the way of mind control." Again, Strife was speaking facts. "You had no way of defending against a control placed so deep inside your own mind. She didn't understand, Cathi Gata. It wasn't her fault or yours."

"You speak in riddles." Cathi Gata slumped on the bed. "Is it truly that bad that I have to be led to such a thing so carefully?"

"Yes." Strife was completely serious and Cathi Gata went totally still. "There are many who would simply drop the horror on you and expect you to survive it again, but that is what happened before and we learned. Even such as Nephilim, angel and demon can learn when the lesson is properly tailored to their needs. That one hurt quite a lot of people quite a bit."

"_That_ bad?" Cathi Gata asked weakly. Strife nodded. "What did I _do?_"

"You? You saved Eliza and every one of our Realms." Strife sighed deeply. "There are few things that Heaven and Hell _agree_ on in this reality. The fact that pushing Eliza so far was a _bad idea_ is one of them. The fact that if not for _your_ heroic intervention, _everything_ in this _reality_ might have ceased to _exist_ is another. Even the Council won't do dare _that_." He shook his head. "Lilith was _insane_ to push Eliza like that and she was chastised by _everybody!_"

"Since time has no meaning here, maybe we should start at the beginning?" Cathi Gata asked a bit plaintively. Strife nodded but paused when she spoke again. "But I do have one major question: Was that Gemina Horati?"

"Yes." Strife replied as Cathi Gata fought her emotions. "And no."

"What do you mean? My head is hurting." Cathi Gata said weakly as she lay down on the bed. Indeed, her head was spinning!

"Eliza was given power with the idea of said power corrupting her. It is what Lilith does, corrupt people, but even _she _wasn't prepared for what happened." Strife came close to the bed and his face was worried. "Headache?" She nodded although the motion hurt. He touched her arm and the pain faded. He made a soft noise. Almost despair? "This is beyond my skill."

"What is happening?" Cathi Gata begged as the world seemed to shimmer around them.

"Eliza is dreaming and it is leaching into you as we feared. I can ease you, but I need to call in a specialist to see if this can be fixed. I don't know if it _can_ be. The only good news is that Eliza always had tight control." Strife said quietly. "We are in no danger of dissolution."

"'Dissolution'?" Cathi Gata said and then fought hard not to scream as raw power flayed her mind.

"No! Get something in her mouth before she bites down!" That was Gemina! Terrified, but... For Cathi? "She bites herself to keep from crying out! She will bite clean through her own _jaw_ if we let her!"

Rage came, but then pain followed and it crashed across Cathi Gata in waves of unending torment. She was being held down by strong hands. Some that felt armored, others felt like flesh as the pain increased again and again. Then it vanished and all she could do was sob. Something metal was in her mouth and it felt both hard and soft.

"Wow." A very deep voice sounded and something nudged the sobbing Tenno's cheek. A finger? If so, it was far larger than a human finger. "You told me, Horseman, I didn't believe. She bit into _adamantium!_"

"Reality is warping around her, Ulthane." Strife was worried, very worried. "Can you help her?"

"You know what she has to do, Strife." What had be Ulthane sounded upset. "I ain't getting in the way when the likes of her go tossing such about. It gets unhealthy if you know what I mean."

"I know, but she may be the only chance we have." That was Gemina again, but Cathi Gata was too spent to even flinch. "Whatever price needs to be paid, I will pay. I owe them both."

"Girlie..." Ulthane heaved a sigh so deep it might have rocked a planet. "I can't fix this. Don't know of any of my kind who can. You know who can delve that deep into a mind." Several voices chorused negatives in several languages.

"I am not letting her _touch_ Cathi Gata again!" _That_ was pure Gemina Horati! "You know happened the last time! Eliza did not take it well. Do you _really_ want Eliza to wake up and find that that wicked thing has done it a_gain?_ I am sure Lilith would be amused, for all the time it took Eliza to wipe her, and all the _rest of us in all likelihood_, permanently from existence!"

"I know." Far from offended, Ulthane sounded as if he agreed. "There are others who can ease such hurts, but few who dare to delve so deep into the psyche. There is always a cost as that idiotic witch found out with Eliza. She can reach the hurt, fix it. The question is, _will_ she?"

"If asked properly by the right person? Sure she will. _They_ do not want to be obliterated any more than _we_ do." Strife wasn't happy either. "Plots, plans, counter-plots and plans, all of these are meaningless if we all cease to exist."

Cathi Gata hawked and tried to spit the blockage in her mouth out. The thing in her mouth wouldn't budge. Huge, incredibly strong fingers took hold of her jaw and eased it open. Then the thing was gone.

"I think I am gonna keep this piece as a souvenir." Ulthane chuckled, but there was little mirth in it. "Might make me a bit less rash about thinking such indestructible. Should know better by now, dealing with you lot. You Horsemen can break anything."

"I… I better leave." Gemina Horati sounded almost beaten but Cathi Gata opened her mouth.

"What did Eliza do?" The sudden stillness in area was deafening. "I get that she did something bad. For me?"

"You needed help and she was still just a little kid. No one blamed her for what she did. She did it to save you and herself from a fate even worse than the one that befell her when you got back." Strife reassured her. Then he laughed more than a bit bitterly. "Lilith _did_ learn her lesson about poking certain people in places they do not want to be poked. That had to seriously hurt even one such as _her_."

"What did Eliza do?" Cathi Gata all but begged as she tried to opened her eyes and they would not. "I can't see!"

"Not yet." Ulthane commanded "Lights in here are very bright. Dim 'em, ya pigeons! Yeah, now!" That was also a commanded. A huge finger touched her forehead and then he spoke again. "You will be able to open them now."

"I..." Cathi Gata opened her eyes to wonder. She wasn't in the cave now. She lay on a white platform made of some kind of stone in the middle of a large still brightly lit large room filled with beings in golden armor who all had wings on their backs! She swallowed hard as a huge hulking form stepped back from her and Strife stepped forward.

"You are in no danger, Cathi Gata." Strife said formally. She looked away from him at another golden armored form. Gemina Horati stood as if resigned. "It wasn't her fault."

"What did Eliza do?" Cathi Gata did not ask that of Strife. She was asking Gemina who bowed her head.

"You were down, disabled and being changed against your will into a demonic mockery of yourself." Gemina Horati said softly. "You vehemently disagreed with Eliza seeking answers there, but she was the Princess and you were the guard. Add to that? They _did_ have information that others lacked. Which they gave up to get us out of there without tearing it down around that idiot demoness' ears. They were not to be trusted and you knew it, which is why you had backup on standby. No one expected the Lady of the Black Stone to act so swiftly to confine both of you. No one expected her to try and seduce _Eliza_ of all people!" The Equinox warframe shook her head. "No one blamed Eliza. Not angel, not demon, not Nephilim and _certainly_ not _me_."

"What did Eliza _do?_" Cathi Gata begged.

"She needed a mighty warrior to save you both so she _Created_ me."


	5. Chapter 5

**By her will**

"Eliza… _Created_… You."

Cathi Gata felt her grip on sanity start to fray. Everyone stepped back except the golden Equinox warframe as Cathi Gata felt something happen within her. Something she had no words for.

"And I am just supposed to believe this?" The supine Tenno sat up, aware that at least half of the odd beings in this place had hands on weapons.

"Is it so hard to believe?" The being who looked and sounded so like her old commander asked quietly. Her calm tone was intended to help Cathi Gata stay calm, the unarmored Tenno knew that. It didn't help much. "You saw how many things Orokin created. Possible or no, they made marvels both wondrous and horrifying. Eliza was young, perhaps a bit foolish, but many young are. It is part of the definition of 'youth', is it not?"

"You… Lie!" Cathi Gata managed to snarl that as the world shifted underneath her. When her vision cleared, her eyes widened. Why was everyone suddenly looking like _painted __flowers?_ When she blinked, the golden room and the crowd of beings within were both back the way they had been. All of the faces she would see looked very worried. "Eliza never had that kind of power! She never _wanted_ that kind of power! She wanted to be-"

"An artist." Gemina Horati interrupted Cathi Gata's almost rant, the armored Tenno's voice sad. Cathi Gata stilled. No one was supposed to know that! No one! Eliza's mother had pushed Eliza into being a singer instead, and the girl had blossomed into the only role she was allowed, but in the deepest recesses of her heart, recesses known only to her closest bodyguard who had found her crying in a garden one day and sat with her until the girl calmed, Eliza had always wanted to be an artist. Cathi Gata had sworn never to speak of that and Eliza's mother, being focused on other things, had never pressed on that minor issue. The evil harridan might have known and but if so? She likely hadn't cared. After all, her offspring's desires were irrelevant. Would she have told Gemina? The Equinox bowed her head. "Elizabeth wanted to be an artist."

"What have you done?" Cathi Gata rose to her feet and everyone made way for her as she stalked towards the still Equinox warframe. "What have you done to Eliza _now?_" She demanded.

"I didn't." Gemina said very softly as she bent to one knee before the furious unarmored Tenno!_That made no sense! _Regular Tenno bowed to no one and Gemina had only ever bowed to Eliza's mother! No one else."I came into being to find you screaming in agony as your body was remade, your warframe becoming part of a new _you_. To find Eliza crying in cage, bleeding. I reacted rather badly to seeing her like that." Her tone spoke of monumental understatement.

Strife all but choked and more than one person winced as Gemina bowed her head further as if to invite a death stroke. The world blinked again and everyone was a painted _fish?_ Another blink and they were back. Cathi Gata shook her head, even more confused and then looked up as another voice spoke up.

"I'll say! You tore one of Lilith's _wings_ off, Gemina Horati." Fury stepped forward, a faint smile on her face. Said smile faded. "Then again, she _earned_ that and _so_ much more." The not-human female laid an oddly gentle hand on Gemina Horati's shoulder as she looked at the unarmored Tenno. "This Gemina is not the one you hate. She never was."

"This makes no sense!" Cathi Gata declared, still furious.

"You need to calm down." Fury shook her head. "The power is reacting to your emotions, trying to seek an outlet through you and you have no idea how to use it. How to control such. What was it she said?" She frowned in thought and then nodded. "Ah yes. Be true to your Code, Tenno."

Cathi Gata stared at the female form whose hair was now the color of blood and not shimmering with energy. "Who told you that?"

"Eliza did." Fury shook her head, a faint smile tracing her features. "The last time she came to check. She told us you had survived. She didn't remember us any more than you do, but we remembered her. She was kind of hard to forget. We made her welcome."

"How... many… times?" Cathi Gata felt faint and then she slowly knelt into seiza. She took several slow cleansing breaths, ignoring the Equinox warframe as her rhythms calmed.

"She has been back four times, each time she has been older, sadder, wiser." Fury shook her head. "She never asked about what she didn't remember. Smart woman."

"The best." Cathi Gata said weakly. "She has no evil in her, no matter-" She broke off as everyone stilled. "Um..."

"There is a reason for that." Fury took a step to stand beside the kneeling Tenno. "One that no one likes." Cathi Gata inhaled, but Fury continued. "It is not her fault and it is certainly not yours. Gemina here is not at fault either. She is not the one who trapped you, who hurt you and helped her mistress enslave you. She has been with us since you and Eliza left. She is a great help."

"She won't believe that any more than Eliza did." Gemina said from where she knelt, but Fury looked at her and she subsided.

"If she is half the being that she was when I first met her, then she won't believe _anything_ without concrete proof." Fury replied. A snort came from the ranks and yes, the skull faced being stood by one wall of the large room flanked by the huge red robed swordsman. "Hush, brother." Fury glanced at them and then focused on Cathi Gata. "You need help, Cathi Gata, but the only being who can in our reality is never to be trusted. Lilith knew what she did was wrong and she did it anyway. Twisting Eliza was a bad idea. Infusing her with such power was a worse one."

"I am linked to Eliza?" Cathi Gata asked, working her way through her stumbling thoughts.

"You linked to her when she was caged." Fury said quietly. "When she was tormented. You were disabled and bound by arcane chains, but you still fought as your kind do. You helped her cope with the power she was suddenly able to wield. It is part of you too, if lesser."

"Wait a minute..." Cathi Gata inhaled in shock this time. "She has done things since I have been awake that she should not be able to! She has gone places and done things..." She broke off as Fury laid a hand on her shoulder, an oddly gentle hand from someone who was clearly not gentle.

"Her story began with us. It does not end with us." Fury shook her head as Cathi Gata looked confused. "You both went your own way, a path of pain and fear. She needs help now. You can give it, but I do not know what such will do to _you_. I do not know if you can survive such, even as powerful and durable as you are."

"Eliza is important!" Cathi Gata declared. "I am not!"

"You both are." Fury retorted. "You are both keys to a lock that must never be opened again. If, when, you perish, we fear that the lock will unravel. That what is behind the lock will be released and in that case?" She shook her head. "None of us have a chance."

"I don't understand!" Cathi Gata said with a growl of annoyance, then she focused on her breathing again until she was calmer. When she spoke again, it was slow, careful. "Eliza is not a bad person."

"No." Gemina replied. "And you are the reason."

"_Me?_" Cathi Gata asked, stunned. "Do you know what I did to her? She hates me!"

"Yes, she does. She has cause." Fury allowed. "But she also loves you. She knows on a level far deeper than any mortal can touch just how much you care for her."

"I hurt her." Cathi Gata felt her eyes start to burn and then she was sobbing softly.

"You did bu then, you defied your mistress. You let her go." Gemina said into the silence that fell.

"That is not what happened!" Cathi Gata snapped. "I tried to find her when she dove into the ocean! I did!"

"You could not fight the controls that had been placed in you, so you had to try and save her when she dove into the ocean to commit suicide." Gemina was still quiet, but remorseless as ever. "But..." Cathi Gata felt a sudden tension as Gemina looked her full in the face. "No one but her knows that the drug she gave you didn't work."

"No." Cathi Gata was shaking, both in rage and remembered fear mixed with shame. "I… She disabled me for a moment, dashed to that cliff and jumped… I..."

"It didn't work." Gemina said with a growl of annoyance. "And you know it! You let her go!"

"Gemina!" Fury warned, but the Equinox warframe shook her head.

"She has to face this, Fury." Gemina said with a growl of her own. "She has to. She has to face what she did and why."

"_I THOUGHT SHE WAS DEAD!_" Cathi Gata screamed and tears were falling like rain. "I couldn't find her! I..."

"She wanted to die." Fury knelt down and gathered Cathi Gata up in her arms as the kneeling Tenno started to bawl like a baby. "No one knew that the currents in that area were so strong. How far she would be pulled by the tidal forces in mere moments. She was barely coherent when she landed in my arms."

"What?" Cathi Gata stared up at the fiery eyes and the ancient warrior female was sad.

"She screamed for help. I remembered her voice and came. I got in a lot of trouble for doing it, but I would do it again." Fury smiled at Cathi Gata's stunned expression. "I like her, but more importantly, way back when? She scared me." The other admitted as Cathi Gata stilled.

"Eliza...scared you?" The unarmored Tenno said weakly.

"She was just a little girl who was suddenly given power beyond belief." Fury gave Cathi Gata a squeeze and then released her. "And instead of turning evil or trying to make the entire universe one big happy family of kittens, puppies, ponies or whatever, she _thought_ before she acted. Do you have _any_ idea how rare that is?"

"Yes, I do. But..." Cathi Gata slumped. "I thought I had failed her."

"You searched over a _hundred_ square kilometers of ocean from surface to floor for three _days_. First in the hope of finding her and then just to find a body." Fury said quietly. "She was long gone. I had no idea where to take her, so I asked for assistance." Again, Death snorted and Fury shook her head. "Brother..."

"I believe your exact words were 'Help me with this stupid half drowned brat or I will hurt you'." The skull faced being said as he stepped forward. Fury made a rude gesture at him and more than one person smiled. He nodded to Cathi Gata. "We reported what Fury had done to the wardens. They were not amused but when we explained, they understood. Eliza slept through all of that."

"And woke up on the beach in front of Sun's door." Cathi Gata was incredulous. Death inclined his head to her. "She disabled me long enough to do that. To try and die."

"Cathi Gata, you were in _warframe_." Gemina chided her. "The aerosol sedative that she hit you with wouldn't have done anything to you." Cathi Gata stilled and the copy of her former commander nodded. "Unless you _let it_."

"I..." Cathi Gata was losing control. She was sliding deeper and deeper into a dark pit and then, light flared in her mind. Everyone flinched back as white light poured down from nowhere to bathe the shuddering Tenno. She stared up… At Eliza!

The Empress was _old_. Ancient even! Her gray hair fell unbound to her waist. Her face was wrinkled, but she was unbowed. She wore a white gown and no crown, no gaudy jewels, but the sheer majesty in her presence had everyone, even Fury, stepping back as she stepped down out of nowhere to stand in front of Cathi Gata.

"Hello, Cathi." Eliza's voice held old pain, old sadness, old fear, but her face was radiant as she pulled Cathi Gata up into a hug. "Oh, Cathi. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, _thank you_."

"I failed you." Cathi Gata said in a tiny voice. "I failed."

"Not yet." Eliza hugged Cathi and then released her. Cathi Gata felt odd, but whole as bio-armor suddenly surrounded her. It felt wrong but right. Not like her Valkyr warframe. She felt light, almost airy. "What was set in motion so long ago has now reached fruition. We will not be able to handle this alone. We will need the wardens' assistance and possibly the Tenno's as well." That was to _everyone_.

"Ma'am..." Fury started, only to pause as Eliza glanced at her. "Apologies, Creator."

"Creator?" Cathi Gata all but begged.

"You do not remember what was done. For your safety and everyone else's your memories were destroyed." The elderly Eliza in front of her was sad, so sad. "Eliza's memories could not be destroyed after what she became. After she became me. So, I made another Eliza who went home with you. Who suffered and even now suffers for her mother's sins."

"You… made…?" Cathi Gata did beg that as she fell to her knees. "Eliza? What have I done?"

"I was drowning in darkness and these Realms would have followed me. I had no idea what I was doing. Neither did you, but I was in trouble, so you saved me as you always did. My one, true knight in shining armor. You pulled me out of that darkness. Now? I can repay that debt." Eliza smiled as she pulled Cathi Gata up into another hug. "Don't cry, Cathi. What will be, will be. I have blocked the link. It won't bleed into you for a while, hopefully long enough. I have no regrets for this life that I lead. So much to do and so much hope to spread now." She turned to the other Tenno. "They come! Host! Nephilim! Gemina! Ward Cathi!"

Then she was was gone.

"To arms!" A cry went up around the area as golden power shimmered in front of Cathi and warframes started appearing, but… odd. They all looked off. Not quite right. Or… No, the _frames_ looked right, but the _colors_ looked garish. As if painted by a child with no color sense at all!

In moments, half a hundred of the odd looking warframes stood in front of Cathi Gata, but now, _all_ of the golden armored forms with wings were between her and them. Gemina was beside her, Ninkondi at the ready as Fury and her brothers stepped up as well. One of the warframes, a Rhino that was the worst shade of pink that Cathi Gata had ever imagined, stepped forward, his Scindo ax shimmering the same awful pink.

"_**You will come with us.**_" The Rhino's voice was as nasty as the color of his armor. The power from that voice resounded in Cathi Gata's skull but then Gemina laid a hand on Cathi Gata's shoulder. Cathi Gata jerked as she was in control of herself again. She stepped back, shaking her head. _**"**__**You will come with us."**_

"No." Cathi Gata said as firmly as she could. Not very. This frame wasn't her Valkyr. She didn't know how to use it.

"_**You have no choice."**_

"There are always choices." What the hell? _The Lotus_ appeared beside Cathi Gata, twin swords held in her hands. "She chose not to do as you wish. You should abide by that or this is going to get very messy."

"They can't." Another voice heralded a dark haired human female into view. Or _was_ she human? She looked sort of human, but her pale skin was almost scaled? She was glowing an odd shade of green and the staff in her hand also glowed that color as it morphed and a wicked spearpoint emerged from the end. "They have about as much free will as Catherine Gata did."

"_**She will come with us."**_ The Rhino was readying his ax as Cathi Gata fought to understand this sudden change.

"No, she won't." That was Fury whose brothers moved to flank her as she started forward. "She doesn't want to."

"_**She must."**_ The Rhino flexed and his Iron Skin activated.

"No." Another voice! Cathi Gata was beyond shock now as _Hayden Tenno_ appeared beside the Lotus, his Glaive in one hand and a pistol in the other! Other Tenno in warframes were shimmering into being beside him, some Cathi Gata knew, others were strangers, but all moved to ward her. "She made her choice and we have made ours. We stand with our sister."

"Oooh." Now, the only thing holding Cathi Gata up was Gemina's rock hard hand as _another_ voice sounded and _Eliza_ appeared nearby in a flash of white that was dirty somehow. Dingy? Not clean? Her robe had been white once, but now was smeared with things that Cathi Gata did not look too closely at. _This_ Eliza was a little girl whose smile spoke of madness as she looked around at the battle that was about to unfold. "This is going to be _fun!_"

"Eliza… No..." Cathi Gata begged as the full force of the mad girl's gaze landed on her and she hit the ground with a thump. What energy she had was gone! Drained.

"Don't worry, Catherine." Eliza moved to stand beside the pink warframe. "Me and mine will take really good care of you. Rest now. You have earned a nice long rest in the arms of one who loves you." That wasn't comforting at _all!_

"You wouldn't know love if it _bit_ you, brat!" Fury snapped and then snarled as off white power flashed from the mad young Eliza to her. Whatever was supposed to happen didn't and Fury smiled back as Eliza recoiled, the madness in Fury's own smile just as fervent as Eliza's. "You did that last time. I can learn. Can _you?_"

Far from cowed, the mad young Eliza smiled wider and were that bloody chunks of meat in her teeth? Again, Cathi Gata did not look closely.

"Let's find out."


	6. Chapter 6

**Insanity versus worse**

Cathi Gata could do nothing but watch as the horde of garishly painted warframes charged her defenders. Gemina Horati stood over her, feet braced to hold off any foe that got past the line.

Not that anyone _was!_

The garishly painted warframes charged the line of protectors like a horde of Infested. They hit said line and the results were pretty much the same as a horde of Infested hitting a line of ready Tenno. Fury and her brothers were in motion, each carving holes in the oncoming force. Fury had her whip, War his sword, Death had a pair of evil looking scythes and Strife had drawn a pair of pistols. The sheer carnage that resulted when they met the enemy charge with their own was awe inspiring even for a veteran Tenno. Pieces of hideously colored warframes flew every which way. Nothing on that side got past them or would intact.

On the other end of the hall, the odd sort-of-human woman stood with the Lotus and Hayden Tenno. She had set her feet and became a rock on which the tide of enemies dashed themselves. Was her weapon a spear or a staff? It seemed to shift from one to the other as she spun it in expert arcs. Then she lashed out and it was a spear that impaled a gaudily painted Ash warframe and threw the broken, bleeding mess into three of its fellows, knocking them all to the ground. Then it was a staff again as she blocked ranged fire from three more, sending the shots back at the attackers. The Lotus and Hayden ranged here and there, weapons flashing as they sought foes who wisely gave the woman with the staff-spear a wide berth. No one was getting by _them_. Let alone the dozen Tenno in regular colored warframes who had followed them here and formed a rank just behind the spear wielding woman.

The middle had a host of winged golden armored forms who fought with speed and skill. Their weapons were varied, but as beautiful as their armor. It was there that the pink Rhino slammed into the line and pushed it back, a dozen of his fellows charging at his heels. Then more and more. The golden light was still flashing and more of the wrong warframes were appearing. _Many_ more.

Cathi Gata could not move as the line in between the incredibly powerful anchors on either end buckled under sheer weight of numbers. Gemina Horati shook her head slowly as the line of what had to be angels was pushed back.

"Why me?" Cathi Gata managed through whatever was holding her. "Why am I the target?"

"You are linked to Eliza and vulnerable right now. They think to break Eliza." Gemina replied and then lashed out at nothing visible. A shimmer and a gaudy orange Loki warframe was slammed away from her and right into a two handed slash from War which bisected the hapless sneak. "We won't allow it. We have got to get you out of here."

"You! You are going nowhere except back into your cage, traitor!" The voice from the mad version of Eliza was a cackle of maniacal glee as the number of garishly painted warframes doubled and then doubled again! The room was filled to bursting and even the incredible forces arrayed to protect Cathi Gata were being pushed back. Then Fury screamed a full-throated bellow of pure rage as Death took a hard hit from a Fragor hammer and went down for a moment.

"_Not this time!_" The whip wielder flashed incandescent and then she was shimmering in odd white light as a sword, no, _two_ swords appeared in her hands and she was suddenly moving through the horde as if they were standing still. Every time her blades struck, badly painted warframes fell, sometimes in pieces. She cut a ruler straight line towards the mad Eliza girl who smiled wide as Fury charged her. "_You will not take her!_"

"Fury! No!" Death called as he rose, but she was on the girl who smiled even wider as the blades bit deep into her and did _nothing! _Or did they? Energy flared around the girl as she smiled but Fury matched it! The girl's smile faltered as Fury's power matched her own for a moment, but then the Horseman (Horsewoman?) was pushed back and the girl grinned wide as Fury screamed in agony.

"Get Cathi Gata out of here!" Fury shouted as the girl started shimmering with bright dingy light. She was glowing brighter and brighter, but the brightness was growing very slowly as Fury held onto the swords and silvery white power flared form them. Some of the garish warframes started to burst! Failing explosively?

"What? What is happening?" Cathi Gata begged as the light grew brighter and everyone retreated from the now madly cackling girl. Only Fury stood still, her blades still buried in the clearly not human form in front of her as it glowed like the heart of a star. A dirty star. The angels were moving to shield Cathi Gata from whatever was happening even as the garish warframes pressed their assault despite more of their number detonating. The other Nephilim were still fighting, bu they too were retreating.

"She is going to explode, but Fury is slowing her somehow!" Gemina scooped Cathi Gata's form up and slid towards the spear wielder. "Lady Raviine! We need to _go!_"

"Right." The spear wielder did a kata and her staff was suddenly three times as long as it had been. A dozen garish warframes flew away from her as the Lotus moved to stand by her. Hayden Tenno nodded to the pair and vanished. The other warframes vanished with him, all but one who moved to stand with the Lotus. The Nova Prime warframe nodded to the spear wielder and held out her hand. A flash and the world shifted around them all. A brighter flash heralded a scream of rage from the mad girl and then an even brighter flash of golden power mixed with green. Whatever was happening was eclipsed by dingy white power. Then black overshadowed _both _and they fell into darkness_._

When Cathi Gata could see again, the spear wielder and Lotus were gone. Gemina held her and the Nova Prime warframe stood nearby, wary. The hall they stood in was large, almost airy, but it felt oppressive. It felt wrong to Cathi Gata. Familiar? No. But almost. The walls were a black stone lined with red. Thorny architecture spiked up from every corner and she was-

She stilled as Gemina snarled a foul expletive in an ancient language. When she spoke again, Gemina Horati was coldly furious but tightly controlled. "Cathi Gata, rest, recover. Do nothing but that. Nothing at _all_."

"You are both welcome here, Gemina Horati." A melodious voice sounded. Cathi Gata looked to where the voice came from and went totally still as a form straight out of human nightmare stepped out of shadow to nod to them. The female from was taller than any human. She wore some kind of bony armor that left little to the imagination. That paled beside the two bat type wings that hung from her back, only… upside down? The horns that curved up form her forehead and the tail that curved up around her body were almost afterthoughts. A classical human image of a demon. The demon frowned, looking at Cathi Gata. "Oh, my dear. What have you done to yourself _now?"_

"Touch her again and you will pray for death, Lilith. Even your kind can die." Gemina Horati snapped as the Nova Prime warframe beside them started to glow."I won't just tear your _wing_ off this time!"

"Say what you will about me, Tenno..." The demon did not move as tiny motes of light started swirling around the Nova. "...I do learn from my mistakes. I have no interest in pitting myself against the Creator and she made her wishes quite clear. As unrefined as your methods were and are? Hers are _far_ more refined and far _less_ pleasant." The demon actually _shuddered_. "If I _never_ see another puppy again, it will far too soon." She eyed the Nova who had raised a hand that glowed with fell power. "I am not your enemy today, Tenno."

"Funny." Gemina was not laughing. "You just snatched us out of our escape."

"An escape the mad one was tracking and actively blocking." The demon replied, to all appearances serious now. "You would not have come out the other side. Not intact anyway. This way? No one knows where you are for the moment and for now? You are as safe as you can be in these realms. She cannot remain here." She warned. "My minions have been ordered away, but sooner or later, someone will spy on me. It is what we do."

"And as soon as they do, they will try and garner favor by telling secrets." Gemina might have been carved from ice now.

"And _much_ sooner than any of us would like, the mad one will hear." Lilith shook her head. "For the moment, we are secure. This is the _last_ place she would expect you to take shelter."

"That is the kind of twisty plot you would come up with." Gemina retorted. "There is just one problem. Your kind do not do things for altruistic reasons. What is in it for _you?_"

"My life. The Apocalypse has come but the Horsemen have been running rampant. The Third Kingdom is gone, but so is much of our Legion. The Council is in chaos. The White City is barred. The Destroyer is gone." Lilith said flatly. "Samael is free and wandering, plotting. My master is _not_ pleased with the situation." She sighed deeply and seemed to relax. "He ordered me to aid you."

"_Really?_" Gemina was just as capable of scorn as she had ever been. She put about three dictionaries worth of derision into that one word.

"With a new Creator on the field, everything changed." Lilith replied with a growl. She actually looked away. Was that shame or sickness on her face? "It was explained to me in great detail just exactly how badly I erred."

"You very nearly destroyed everything in these Realms." Gemina retorted. "Of course, if you had _managed_ to _control_ Eliza, then it would have all been good. Right?"

"That was the plan, yes." Lilith sighed deeply. "It didn't work."

"You don't say!" Gemina snapped. "All you did was break her! If not for Cathi Gata, you would have destroyed everything! If the other fully escapes her prison, we haven't _seen_ bad yet. Not even _you_ can imagine what she can do to you."

"No, but I have more of an inkling than you likely do." Lilith replied, a small, sick smile curving her inhuman features. "What the Creator did to me was extremely unpleasant. I can only imagine what her twin will do, but I can guess and frankly? I would rather not find out if it is all the same to you. There. Is that selfish enough?" She demanded snidely.

"What did she do to you?" Cathi Gata managed. Gemina hissed, but Lilith just looked sick. The demon spoke under her breath and Gemina stilled, but Cathi couldn't hear her clearly. Had she just said 'Puppies'? "What?"

"She made me a particularly unpleasant solitary reality. She made me spend thirty five centuries helping in a veterinary clinic." The demon said with a wince. "For thirty five human _centuries_, I got barfed on. Bitten. Slobbered on, shed on, and..." She shuddered and covered her face with her hands. "The puppies... Oh my darkness, the _puppies!_" Was she about to _cry?_

"'Puppies'? What?" Cathi Gata inquired as Gemina snickered.

"Can you imagine anything _worse_ to someone who delights in evil than having to spend so long around pure, unthinking, unadulterated _love?_" Gemina asked with glee in her voice. "And it is not as if the Creator would allow her to corrupt any of them. Did she?"

"_NO!_" Lilith all but screamed that. "I couldn't get them to stop _loving_ me! And they call _me_ evil!"

"You _are_ evil. But so is Eliza sometimes." Gemina snickered as the demon waved an exasperated hand at her. "Eliza is a nice person when she can be, but she has a vicious streak a kilometer wide when crossed. All kinds of people have underestimated her. It always hurts. You made her very angry with what you did." Gemina relaxed, but just a little. "_I_ would have just killed you. She did show a certain level of mercy."

"Some _mercy_. She gave my _master_ pause with her vengeance." Lilith allowed and then sighed, nodding to Cathi Gata. "This one needs time to recover. Time to rest and recuperate. The fortress is cleared. I am alone here."

"And we should just trust that." Again, Gemina's scorn probably could have cut right through the stone walls. The Nova shook her head, still silent.

"No," A new voice sounded and Lilith went totally still as a piece of the wall shifted and two forms right out of a _Tenno's_ nightmare stepped out into view. Stalker was bad enough, but he held held his massive two handed sword to menace Lilith who wisely froze. It was the _other_ though...

No one dared to move as the Revenant warframe stepped to Cathi Gata's side and knelt down beside her. That was _not_ Tenno energy that pulsed from it in sickly green/gold waves. But why was Gemina relaxing?

"_Falcon!_ Oh, thank the _Creator!_" Gemina started to move to stand between him and Lilith, but paused as the Revenant shook its head.

"Do not trust me. I have broken this copy of Stalker free from my father for the moment, but that may not last. Hunhow cannot pass the thresholds of reality, but if he discovers that I can? Tanah was bad enough." The voice that came from the Revenant was calm, assured. Not quite female but close. It was also _clearly_ not from a human or Tenno, "We need her." Her voice turned very gentle now. "You need to rest now, Cathi Gata."

"What is-?" Cathi Gata tried to beg, but the hand of the Revenant flashed with power and she was falling. But… The mind within the Revenant was singing to her!

It was beautiful but…

So…

Sad…

* * *

Later

Cathi Gata woke up on a bed that looked awful, but was very comfortable. She felt her internal stores of energy being replenished and she looked up to see the Nova from before sitting on the bed beside her, hand on her arm. The other nodded as the antimatter stream that the other was slowly and carefully feeding power into from Cathi Gata ebbed and vanished. Cathi Gata felt better than she had for some time.

"Thank you." Cathi Gata sad to the Nova who bowed her head. "Do I know you?" She asked and the Nova shook her head. "You don't talk do you?" The Nova shook her head again. "I see." She reached up with a slow hand to lay it on the other warframe's forearm. "Thank you." She repeated.

"We cannot stay here much longer." Gemina's words heralded the Equinox appearing nearby. "I am astonished that we haven't been discovered yet, but Stalker and Falcon have been keeping the place clear of spies. That cannot last though."

"I need information." Cathi Gata said softly and Gemina nodded. "Let me say what I know, then what I have discerned. Then you can tell me the rest?"

"Most of it." Gemina bowed her head. "Some I cannot speak of, but most of it I can. You will need to practice with that warframe. You have never used it that you remember."

"That I _remember_. I do not remember either of you, but you both know me. I came here with Eliza." Cathi Gata said softly as the Nova rose to stand by Gemina Horati. Odd. They looked very similar, but not physically or color wise. _Something_ about them was similar, but whatever it was, it defied Cathi Gata's befuddled mind. "I warded her."

"As only true guardswoman would." Gemina Horati agreed. "Whatever evils you may have committed in your world? In _this_ Realm, you are a hero."

"Something very bad happened to Eliza here." Cathi Gata said softly. "She did things. Created..." She paused as she stared at the Nova who bowed her head. "She didn't just create _you_, did she, Gemina Horati?"

"No." Gemina replied evenly. "The moment she made me, used the powers of the Creator, the forces of Hell marched against her. To slay her or take and use her, the result would have been the same. She had incredible power, but no skill in using said power and very little stamina. She was hurt, if not as badly as you were. She needed all the help she could get until the backup _you_ had set up arrived." The Equinox shook her head. "Say what you will about demons or angels being sneaky, _no one_ expected the Four Horsemen to show up!" She chuckled a bit wryly. "_They_ are something to see."

"From a _safe distance_." Cathi Gata corrected and both other female warframe nodded fervently. "Not that I think distance means much to those."

"Not much at all." Gemina sighed deeply and held out a hand that Cathi Gata took with only minor misgivings now. She pulled Cathi Gata off the bed and… She held Cathi as she realized that her feet were gone! That she was hovering off the ground. "Easy!" Gemina said sharply as Cathi Gata started to panic. "It is all right! You are all right! Your warframe is intact!"

"I do not have _feet_, Gemina!" Cathi Gata felt an old familiar fear as Gemina held her despite her sudden struggles. The Nova laid a hand on Cathi Gata's other arm and the frightened Tenno subsided a little. This wasn't her past. She stared at the rest of herself that she could see and the warframe was very different from how her Valkyr had been. "This… This is not my warframe!"

"It is." Gemina just held Cathi Gata's hand, not moving at all as Cathi Gata fought with her emotions. "Eliza was always very smart, but she was only six years old when you were so badly hurt and she tried to help. She didn't know anything about Tenno physiology or warframe construction. She didn't know what she was doing any more than she did when she created me and Sera here. You didn't berate her. You loved her and she loved you. You nearly died for her, several times. It was the job, but so much more for you."

"No greater love hath a being than she will lay down her life for her fellows." The voice that came from the Revenant warframe was still just as wrong as it had been as it stepped into the room. It nodded to Cathi Gata. "For the discourtesy of subduing you, I apologize, Cathi Gata. I am Falcon. You were stressed. I hope you feel better." Such a kind voice from such a horrible looking warframe was jarring.

"I feel better if very confused and frightened." Cathi Gata was still staring at where her legs ended just above where feet would be. "What is going on?"

Everyone looked at Gemina who nodded.

"A prison is breaking and far _worse_ things than Hell are coming out of it."


	7. Chapter 7

**Sharing**

"Okay."

Cathi Gata wasn't calm, far from it, but she was calm-_er_.

"How many Elizas are there?" The Guardswoman asked as she stared at where her feet should have been. The warframe she was in literally pulsed with power now, but she had no idea how to use it.

"Technically, there is only one being that you know as Elizabeth." Gemina replied. "But realistically? Three. The girl who assumed the powers of the Creator when hurt so badly. The copy of herself that she made to go home with you. The other..." She sighed. "We are not sure how that happened. From what the Creator has said, neither is she. I think she believes she erred when she made the being you know as Empress. An almost exact copy of her without her powers and burdens. She was careful but it happened somehow."

"You say she was attacked." Cathi Gata said slowly.

"Yes, but that fizzled when all four of the Horsemen showed up." Gemina chuckled with little mirth. "Say what you will about them, they _do_ know how to settle things down. Usually very quickly too."

"My Eliza was recently traumatized and she is asleep." Cathi Gata said slowly and all of the others in the room nodded. "And… That is allowing the mad one to be free somehow?" She inquired carefully.

"Yes." Gemina replied. "Again, we are not sure how. If the Creator knows, she is not telling us. She usually had good reasons for doing so." She said quickly when Cathi Gata started to inquire.

"I cannot believe that _Eliza_ of all people is a _god._" More than one person winced at Cathi Gata's dubious tone, but no one censured her. "Goddess. Um… whatever."

"I was never very religious either. That said, there are few other descriptors that do the being we call 'Creator' justice." Gemina had a frown in her voice now. "This is not the world I remember. Not the reality where I hurt you so badly. The girl who came here under your protection didn't know about any of that until much later. She was only six!"

"Her mother started on her when she was eight." Cathi Gata said in a monotone and the Revenant of all people stepped forward.

"Her mother is _gone_." The girl's voice from the horrible looking warframe was still jarring, but slightly less so. "Good riddance. We need to deal with the now. One thing I do not understand. Why did Eliza's mother wait so long? From what little I know about the situation, Eliza still trusted her at that age. Warping her would have been easier as a young child, no?" Cathi Gata stared at the warframe and shuddered but Falcon laid a hand on her arm. "Cathi Gata, I am trying to help. I am here to help. My mother came to help her friend."

"What are you?" Cathi Gata did not retreat as the other looked at her. "You are not Tenno."

"No." The Revenant warframe looked away. "I am an experiment. My mother sought to see if peace was possible between her kind and the Tenno. She doesn't believe it is. She made me and as far as we can tell, I am unique. Like you, I am energy that is bound into a meat form, but she didn't have enough organic material to make a fully human body, so my form is much smaller. This warframe was from one of her children who was destroyed during the War. She recovered the warframe, but _he_ was gone. She kept it, hoping and praying his energy would reconstitute, but he never did. She made me and she loves me, but… I am different."

"Your name is Falcon?" Cathi Gata laid her hand on the Revenant warframe's. "I know what it is to be different. To be alone. Even in a crowd of my fellows. I cannot guarantee I will be nice all the time, but I will at least try to be polite. We outcasts have to stick together." The Revenant stared at her and then a choked sob came from the other. The hovering Tenno gave the other's hand a pat and then focused herself. "Thank you for your aid. Now I have to help Eliza."

"Here we _go._" Gemina muttered that not quite under her breath. Cathi Gata stared at her and the Equinox shrugged. "I may not be who you knew, but I remember you. I know _that_ tone." She snickered as Cathi Gata choked. More than one of the others chuckled. When she spoke again, it was wicked. "That is your _'Get the hell out of my way, I am coming through'_ tone."

"I don't-!" Cathi stared and then broke off. Gemina was right. She barked a soft laugh. "Okay. Yes. I guess that is how I talk when I get focused. I don't think I want to run anyone over today. The _paperwork_, you know?" Everyone winced dramatically as Cathi Gata did. Everyone laughed when she did. Then she sobered. "That said, I do not know what to do. Do I save my Eliza? Yours? The mad one?"

"Yours." Gemina and Falcon chorused. They looked at one another and Gemina waved for Falcon to continue. After a moment, the girl in the Revenant warframe did.

"We do not and will not understand all of what happened." Falcon said slowly, feeling each word with care. "This is not your reality or mine. We are both visitors here. I came with my mom when she came to help. You are here for the second time after your near death at the hands of that lunatic. Whichever Eliza you may follow, they are all planners and I bet this was planned for, hence why Gemina and Fury could come save you."

"And the wardens let this happen?" Cathi Gata demanded. Gemina and Falcon looked at each other again, but Sera shook her head savagely and both other others nodded. "What?"

"I do not know all of what transpired between Elizabeth, the girl you were protecting, and the wardens." Gemina said slowly. "I serve the Creator here. She told me you were in danger of dying and needed to be rescued. That was enough for me. I have no need to know more. Less _desire_ to. Curiosity is all well and good, but there are things mortals, even Tenno, should _not_ ask. I know something _did_ happen between Eliza and the wardens and I know Falcon's mother was involved somehow. So was Sera here." She nodded to the Nova who nodded back. "But Sera doesn't speak. I think it was a blood oath." Sera nodded and Cathi Gata inhaled. Such oaths were never made lightly because for Tenno, they were unbreakable. Speaking of…

"And what of Stalker?" Cathi Gata looked around but the red and black armored form was nowhere to be seen. That might or might not be a good thing.

"I found that copy hunting Tenno in our reality and broke him free of Hunhow's control. Hunhow believes him destroyed in battle with this warframe and I have encouraged that belief." Falcon said quietly. "His oaths are still prodding him to kill Tenno even though now, he knows that it wasn't the Tenno who destroyed Orokin. It was Ballas' revenge and the Lotus trying to protect her children. He cannot break the oaths even though he knows it is futile now. He all but cried in relief when I took him prisoner."

"Don't trust him." Cathi Gata and Gemina both warned. They looked at one another and shared a grim nod.

"Even if I did, my mother and grandmother _won't_." Falcon reassured them. "They layered controls in him that I find abhorrent but he keeps telling me they are needed. I..." She made a deep noise of regret. "This warframe is _wrong_. Enthralling people is wrong. What they did to _him_ was wrong."

"And what _he_ did? That the other copies of him do?" Cathi Gata asked and Falcon slumped a bit.

"I don't _know._" For a moment, there was a scared little girl talking from the warframe. "This is just wrong."

"Good." Cathi Gata patted the Revenant's hand again. "Such tactics should never be considered _right_." Nyx was the first to lay out the Tenno Code and she had a very good reason. With any power comes the temptation to use said power. To literally change the _minds_ of _anyone_ we _wish_..." She trailed off with a shudder that Falcon shared. "I bet that is why your mother gave you that warframe. She can trust you won't act irresponsibly with it. Your mother is the Lotus, isn't she?"

"I do not call her that." Falcon said in a tiny voice and then squeaked as Cathi Gata embraced her. "What?"

"You may not be Tenno, but you are not alone." Cathi Gata promised. "Being alone _sucks_. Sometimes it is needed, but I bet she brought you here hoping you could help or maybe that you could _find_ help." Falcon stared at her and Cathi Gata shook her head. She hugged the Revenant again. "You may not be human or Tenno, but you still feel. You still hurt. Don't tell me you are not hurting, girl. Don't even _try_."

"I have to be strong." Falcon said weakly as Gemina laid a hand on her shoulder. Sera laid a hand on her other shoulder. "I… I try to be strong, but it is hard."

"Easy is not for Tenno." Cathi Gata said softly. "Or your kind I bet. So be it. I call you sister now, Falcon and _anyone_ who dares harm you will feel my wrath."

"But… but... but..." Falcon sputtered. "You can't _do_ that!"

"Watch me." Cathi Gata hugged her again! For her part, Gemina just chuckled and then shrugged when Falcon looked at her.

"Don't make her angry, Falcon." Gemina's warning was more humorous that serious. "You wouldn't like her when she is angry."

"Um..." Falcon stared from one to another to another and then she slumped. "I am doomed, aren't I?" She asked a bit whimsically. Everyone nodded and she relaxed. "You are crazy. Since when is a _Sentient_ considered a sister to a Tenno?"

"You haven't seen _anything_ yet!" Gemina sounded almost gleeful now. "Cathi Gata defines the word 'crazy'."

"Hey! I resemble that remark." Cathi Gata replied in a mock haughty tone and both of the conversing warfames laughed with her. From her quivers, Sera was fighting laughter too.

"I will say." Gemina put on a snooty tone. "Silly Tenno. Did you ever manage to build a lightsaber?"

"No." Cathi Gata shook her head as she released Falcon but kept her hand on Falcon's arm. "Such a sword blade made of plasma doesn't work in our reality."

"Why would you want a _sword_ made of _plasma?_" Falcon asked carefully. "Such could not be safe to wield even for a Tenno." Cathi Gata started, but Gemina beat her to speech.

"Because Cathi Gata here is a nut about a truly ancient movie." Gemina said with a snort. "Before she joined the Guard and after. I bet even now, she is _still_ a nut about that ancient silliness."

"It helps me focus." Cathi Gata had no humor in her tone as she shifted a little. It felt both right and wrong to be hovering off the ground. "Fictional it may be, but the Code helped me focus on my training."

"Not the Tenno Code?" Falcon asked. "I hear a lot about that but I have only learned pieces."

"The Tenno Code is old and has been added to over the millennia." Cathi Gata replied. "Tenno do not speak of such to outsiders. But you are not an outsider now. If you want to learn, I will see if I can get permission to teach you."

"Your people are not going to appreciate this." Falcon warned.

"So?" Cathi Gata inquired mildly enough that Gemina recoiled.

"Don't!" Gemina warned as Falcon all but stammered a query. "Cathi Gata! Stop! We need to get you out of here. We get that you are crazy and that is a good thing, but we have to get you out of here before the mad one realizes-"

A resounding explosion sounded and all of the warframes were in motion as the wall caved in and Stalker flew through. He rolled to his feet, his sword up as a horde of badly painted warframes crowded in. At least ten of them.

"_There_ you are!" A mad cackle came as a familiar and terrifying energy form stepped out of a hideously blue colored Excalibur. The young Eliza's eyes flashed as she took in the scene. "Huh. You are coming with me, Catherine!"

"No, I am not." Cathi Gata replied, moving to stand with the others as Gemina, Falcon and Sera made a wall. They shifted to ward her and shes growled in annoyance but let them. "That is not my name, by the way."

"That is your true self. You have forgotten so much." Was the mad girl sad now? Or was that an act? "They took so much. I won't let them hurt you again! I won't!"

"_What?_" That came from everyone but Sera.

"Stop!" Cathi Gata barked in command voice when the garishly painted warframes took a step in and Stalker made to charge them. "Fighting won't work here. We are immortal. You are immortal. Killing each other won't help-" She stilled as the mad girl gave a sob. "What?"

"I won't let them hurt you again!" The girl declared, power flaring around her. "They took you and hurt you and you don't remember! You did it for me but now? I can save you! And I _will!_"

"Wait." Cathi Gata said quickly when everyone tensed. "Just wait a minute. This… This doesn't add up. Gemina?" She asked as the Equinox drew her Ninkondi, the Nova a Prime Skana and Falcon a long, two handed Nikana that pulsed with fell power. "_Wait!_" She commanded.

"She will attack!" Gemina declared. "She will. It is what she does. It is only a question of when."

"She is talking to me!" Cathi Gata snapped back. "Let me try!"

"Do not move." Gemina's voice was just as commanding and Cathi Gata sighed.

"Fine. I won't." Cathi Gata knelt but not into seiza. Into a cross legged stance and her hands folded properly in front of her. "There is no emotion… There is only peace." Everyone stared as the mad girl smiled and relaxed!

"Oh, good!" The mad girl seemed calm for a moment. "You remember! Do you remember any more?"

"I don't know you." Cathi Gata said quietly. "This is what I do. How I calm myself. Do you know me?"

"I did." The mad girl begged. "You tried to help me! I didn't under- NO!" She screamed as green energy flared around her. Dingy, off white power flared and pushed it back as the spear wielding lady from before appeared in a clap of power. "_LEAVE HER ALONE!_"

"_**You will not harm her.**_" The words from the spear wielder shook the very walls.

"_YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE ALLOWED TO DO THAT, YOU LYING SCALED __**BITCH!**_" That was pure fury form the mad girl as power flared around her. Power that was oddly familiar. Why were all of the garishly painted warframes now focused on the newcomer? "She did _nothing_ to you!"

"_**She does not belong here and neither do you.**_" Again, that terrible, terrible voice.

"Lady Raviine..." Gemina all but begged as the pair of insanely powerful females braced each other. "What is going on?" The mad girl replied but did not take her eyes off her opponent.

"Gemina Horati! Do not move! All of you but Catherine are in grave danger!" The mad Eliza braced the warden again! "You wardens are so powerful, so above it all and so powerful. But _there are limits_." The mad girl looked at Cathi Gata and her face was _sad_. "They took it all. You tried to help me and I hurt you! I tried to help you and I hurt you so badly…. I had to fix what I did. I had to."

"_**Stop talking!**_" The woman with the spear stepped forward. Two garish Rhino warframes interposed themselves and a negligent swat from the spear made both vanish. "_**What you did is not allowed.**_"

"I know." The mad girl sounded so like Eliza now. "Only _you_ are allowed to mess things up so badly, right? She helped me so you hurt her! I will never forget or forgive!"

"There is no passion… there is serenity." Was that Cathi Gata's voice. Yes. No. It was and it wasn't!

"_**STOP!**_" That came from the spear wielder but the mad girl relaxed _further!_

The girl spoke in a language that Cathi Gata was sure she did not know. But she understood it somehow!

[I found her. I cannot hold it back. GRANDMASTER! HELP!]

"No!" The spear wielder stepped forward, but too late as a form shimmered into being between Cathi's group and the spear wielder. It resolved into a black haired woman with piercing green eyes. She was neither young nor old and the sheer power that shimmered around her was daunting to say the least. She wore silver armor that Cathi Gata almost recognized and had a sword slung across her back… Wait a minute! Two hilts hung at her belt! Not swords! _Hilts_! Before Cathi Gata could find her tongue, the newcomer spoke in a calm voice.

"Be at ease, Elizabeth. I am here. I will help." The voice from the newcomer was quiet, calm, but sad. She laid a hand on the mad girl's shoulder and the girl relaxed. "I might have known." Now she shook her head. "Raviine. Didn't the last time teach you wardens anything? There are balances for a _reason!_" That was chiding!

"You cannot be here." Was the spear wielder suddenly cautious?

"And you _can?_" The black haired woman seemed to fight a sigh as she turned to look at the group with Cathi Gata. Her eyes widened and then she bowed to Cathi Gata. A half bow, one of respect, not subservience. This woman was _anything_ but subservient. "Well met, Catherine Gata. You likely do not remember me. I am Nia Korr, Grandmaster of the Bladeborn." She smiled. "It is good to see you again, battlesister."

_What the hell?_

* * *

**Nia Korr is a character from my VERY first fanfiction. I wrote a short piece called 'Shades of Grey' for Star Wars: The Old Republic way back when it was first announced in 2008. Then I wrote more. And more. That story grew way out of hand and I learned a lot about how not to write things in the course of the four years and hundred chapters plus epilogue plus side stories that 'Love, The Force and Everything' took to finish. For now, it is still available on SWTOR forums under Kalenath. Not great writing, but I learned a lot.  
**

**Nia Korr was a pivotal character in that entire series. For many reasons. Some of which, we are about to see. She is one of the few people in any reality that scare the crap out of ALL the wardens. For very good reason. The good news? She is neutral, not evil. She knows all about choice and consequence, so she rarely acts at all, and when she does? It is never thoughtless.  
**

**That said?**

**She IS rather annoyed at the moment. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Equal and opposite**

For a long moment, no one moved, then the newcomer slowly shook her head.

"I am here, Elizabeth. I will see what I can do. Go home before this gets any further out of hand." The mad version of Eliza looked as if she wanted to argue, but he newcomer smiled at her. "It is all right, Elizabeth. You have made a mess, but we can clean it up. It is what we are for, no?"

"You and the Bladeborn clean up my messes far too often. You and Ina and Sara and all the others are far too good to me, Grandmaster Nia." Eliza said weakly as the garishly painted warframes all vanished. "I don't deserve what you have done for me. But _C__atherine_ doesn't deserve this either." She looked at Cathi Gata who stood stunned. "I… I am sorry?" She all but begged and Nia shook her head.

"Go on, Elizabeth. Let me see what I can do." Nia made a 'shoo' gesture and the girl smiled a far more natural and sane looking smile before vanishing. Just like that, the tension in the area lessened. It didn't vanish, but it did lessen. The dark haired woman nodded to Cathi Gata and if her smile was a bit strained? No one would comment. "I didn't imagine I would ever see you again. This is not how I ever hoped of meeting you again, battlesister."

"I don't know you." Cathi Gata said softly. Nia shook her head. "But from your words, you know me."

"I did. From what little I have gathered here, your memory was wiped?" Nia asked and Cathi Gata nodded. "I see. I can guess by _who._" She glared at the spear wielding woman who did not flinch. "Killing her would have been kinder."

"You would know." The spear wielder had not relaxed at all.

"You are not going to get what you want, whatever it is." Nia took in the rest of the tense warframes with a glance and then sighed. "Our Elizabeth will fight to the death to protect the Tenno she knew as Catherine. You know this. Provoking her is a bad idea." The spear wielder did not move and Nia shrugged. "You know what will happen if you press this. Do yourself a favor, let me talk to them, try to salvage some of this before you and your husband get stupid." She paused and then scoffed. "_Again_."

"What is going on?" Cathi Gata demanded, her Glaive in her hand now for all the good such would do against two incredibly powerful beings. Warden and someone who could just _order_ an insane copy of Eliza to obey and have the crazy being _do_ it? "Who are you?"

"As I said, my name is Nia Korr and I am not your enemy, Tenno." Nia said as she crossed her legs and sat in in mid-air! Hovering like a Tenno but there was no Tenno energy around her. "Elizabeth woke up screaming. Poor dear's nightmares have both teeth and claws, but we have dealt with such before. Then she screamed _your name_ and vanished right out of our reality. She came here." She shook her head. "Back to where it all began." The glare she leveled on the spear wielder was incandescent. "Back where you did what you did to her."

"We helped her." The spear wielder said softly, only to pause as Nia was on her feet again, her hand on her sword hilt.

"Nerf Osik!" Nia snapped. "Do not even _try_ to lie to me, warden. As powerful as you are? Right now, I am _just_ as powerful and you know why. I am well within my rights to defend Elizabeth. She is a good kid and you hurt her! You had no _right!_"

"_I_ did not hurt her. She should not exist." The other retorted.

"Yeah, the only one who should exist is the one you all but _enslaved!_" Nia snapped and everything stopped. No one seemed to be _breathing_ now. "She was nice to him, kind to him and what did you greedy grasping fools do? You took her and tried to make her yours. She didn't _want_ to go!"

Cathi Gata had a really bad feeling. This was going to get very messy, very fast. She didn't want to be anywhere nearby if a warden and this clearly furious other went at it. But there as more going on here.

"I get that you are angry, but there are limits, even for you. If you _ever_ say such again, I will kill you." The spear wilder warned as green energy flared across her spear. "I do not enslave people. _Any_ people. She was hurting! Crying! I took her in, yes. I tried to help her."

"Stop!" Cathi Gata commanded as Nia seemed to swell. "Right, wrong or indifferent, whichever Eliza we area talking about here..." She shook her head. "They are the _same_ person, aren't they? Different times. Different timelines. The same Eliza."

"Even without your memories, you are just as sharp as when I knew you. Yes, they are." Nia replied even as the woman with the spear growled at her. "Do shut up_, lizard breath!_ Istara taught me how to kill your kind. I know you will come back from even a mortal wound, but don't think I won't if you keep acting like a Hutt."

"Stop!" Cathi Gata snapped as she slid forward to stand between the two irate and incredibly powerful females. "Both of you! Stop! Whatever is going on here, it is about Eliza." Both women looked at her and she growled. "Or is _she_ not the important one here?"

"She is. Elizabeth is the focus." Nia replied and slowly forced herself to relax. The spear wielder still did not react. "Her and _you_."

"_My_ Eliza just went through a very traumatic ordeal. And… I bet she is remembering things in her sleep that she either forgot or was made to forget, like I was. We traveled into alternate realities." Cathi Gata said softly and Nia nodded. Falcon, Gemina and Sera all moved to ward Cathi Gata again. Stalker did not move from where he stood, ready. "Can you say how many?"

"I don't think anyone but Tanah may know how many you visited trying to get back." Nia said and smirked as Cathi Gata stared at her. "And yes, I know him too." She gave a sniff at the immobile spear wielder. "_Another_ you wardens hurt. Be very glad Istara stepped down when she had her second kid!" She scoffed. "If _she_ had heard the summons instead of _me?_ You would be in about four pieces right now. You hurt that kid very badly and you do _not_ do such around Istara Sharlina Andal."

"She is not a 'kid'." The other replied. "She is manipulating you."

"Yes, she is." Nia replied offhand and everyone stared at her. "Elizabeth is a lost, sick _hurting_ female. She is not human but that does not make her evil. She doesn't _want_ to be bad, she doesn't _want_ to hurt people, but every time she shows herself people have to try hurt her or take her or use her for their own ends or abuse her. She got sick of it! Wouldn't _you?_" She shook her head. "She has never lied to us. She asked our help and we gave it. That was and is manipulative of her, but we use her as well. If _slightly_ more kindly than _you_ did."

"I get that whatever history you and the warden share is not good, but is this germane?" Cathi Gata asked as Nia looked at her. "My Eliza is going to wake up soon and she is not going to be happy."

"The crown doesn't hurt her anymore, does it?" Nia asked and Cathi Gata stilled. "Yes, Elizabeth told me about that. She begged our help when she found you among us. We didn't know or care where you came from when we found you wandering alone and all but mindless. We did not understand where you had come from, what you were or who, but we take in orphans all the time. Broken or hurting and Force sensitive is not a good combination."

"I don't have the Force." Cathi Gata said weakly.

"Not here, no." Nia smiled a bit sadly. "There? You did and you were one of our best, sister. When Elizabeth came to us, found you with us, she was heartbroken. It took some time to calm her down, to get her to explain and when we did?" She sighed. "I am not a nice being or even a good one far too often, but there _are_ limits. This passed those limits. She hurt you unknowing. You tried to help the poor kid and she lashed out. She cast you into between realities. She blames herself to this day but from what we understand, it wasn't really her fault. Or yours, Catherine." She turned to the woman with the spear. "_Was it_, Lady Raviine?"

"We did not understand." Finally, the woman relaxed and her spear shifted into a staff that she leaned against heavily. "I can make no excuses of what happened. We thought her a potential. Nothing more. I mean,… She _saw_ right through the warding! That is power _and_ skill. Then she was so empathetic… So kind to a being who _anyone_ will say is terrifying. Even me." She admitted. "What happened was wrong. We have never said otherwise, Nia Korr." She slumped a bit. "I do not see a happy outcome here for any of us."

"Me neither, but we have to try." Nia said with a shrug. "I am very angry at what you did. I am very angry _why_ you did what you did, but as Catherine says, her Eliza is the important one here. When she wakes, the prison will break."

"What kind of prison are we talking about?" Cathi Gata asked as Falcon moved to her side again. She held up a hand, but the Revenant warframe moved to stand beside her, looking from one side to the other, distrust clear. "Is Eliza the key or the actual prison?"

"Both." The warden said heavily. "Either. We _do_ bear the responsibility, Bladeborn and we know it. What happened to her was unforeseen by anyone."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata demanded. "I… What I remember doesn't have any of this. Eliza was always a good kid." The two mismatched women on either side of her shared a look and then Nia shook her head, bowing it. The warden spoke.

"You know that your mistress commanded you to ward Eliza after her sixth birthday and requested of her husband that you be reassigned as such." The warden said slowly. "You do not know why your Emperor granted the request." Cathi Gata stared at her and the woman shook her head. "He did not have to. He did not know all of her ambitions, but only a fool took her for a wall flower. Even before she became what she did, she was dangerous and everyone knew it. You do not know why he allowed it, do you?"

"No." Cathi Gata said after a moment's thought. That had never occurred to her. The Emperor had commanded and her mistress had accepted the command. That had been that. She hadn't known that her mistress had asked for such, but looking back? It made sense. "I never found out why."

"_We_ asked him for it through intermediaries." The woman called Raviine said very quietly. "You see… She was special even as very small child. Fearless. Kind. Compassionate." She bowed her head but her grimace was clear. "So very young and so very sure of her own immortality."

"That is not atypical of _any_ youth. What happened?" Cathi Gata repeated, fighting back anger. Such would not help here.

"_We_ met her and the universe itself trembled." Raviine said sadly. "Our kind have learned not to trust, not to love outside of our own ranks. It causes complications that can have dire repercussions. Your Eliza was one of those lessons." She held up a hand when Cathi Gata started to protest "Through no fault of her own! She was not to blame any more than the copy we just saw is." She sighed deeply. "That said? It did cause problems."

"What did she _do?_" Cathi Gata demanded, anger rising.

"She found someone in pain and tried to help." Raviine was very sad now. "Her compassion very nearly destroyed her and it may do so even now. I do not want that. She is good soul. Even fragmented as she is, she is better than most. Even the insane one is better than most when she is not attacked. We do keep a wary eye on her and that is as the Bladeborn has stated."

"Elizabeth is good with the kids." Nia said heavily. "We all love her, but she always knew her time was short. If this is it, then I will not interfere, but I _can_ grieve. You cannot deny me that."

"We have our disagreements, Bladeborn." Raviine replied. "But this… No. We did not know what happened to Catherine. When Elizabeth lashed out we feared Catherine destroyed utterly until our warden from your reality reported what he found in your ranks." She made a face. "And you call _her_ crazy."

"What did Eliza _do?_" Cathi Gata snapped, all patience fleeing. "Why was I posted to her?"

"She met a my mate."

* * *

A very long time in the past

Eliza walked with more haste than decorum through the halls of the Royal Summer Palace. Her eyes were burning, but she would not cry! Not here. Not now! It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair! She had been so happy making pretty things. She loved to draw, to build and she was always careful when she painted to not make a mess. Unlike so many of her family, she _did_ clean up after herself when she did made messes. There hadn't been anything anyone could do though. When her mother had commanded that Eliza put aside her desire to do art in the need to sing for her mother's amusement. Eliza had protested that she was not a very good singer. She had done so respectfully for her age. Even a few days before her sixth birthday, every waking moment of Eliza's life had been spent on training for her eventual place in the Royal Court. She was a Princess, even if she was unlikely to ever be close to the Crown. She was also hardly as silly and spoiled as some of her elder siblings who she and _many_ others prayed never touched the Crown. She had hoped to be made a Royal Artist, but instead, her mother had quashed that dream and when Eliza had retired to her secret place in the garden to mourn her dream, one of her siblings had clearly found it and done what her siblings _did_ most anytime they found something pretty of hers. Since it wasn't something they could take, (which was always the first choice) whoever had found the garden glade she had worked so hard to make and hide had decided to destroy it. Every tree was burned, hacked or blasted with power that had become all too familiar to Eliza. Her secret garden was ashes now and what was worse? The flowers that she had so carefully tended as they grew into beautiful arrangements had all been uprooted and tossed into the fires. There was nothing left of what she had hoped to surprise her mother with. The girl hadn't done it for herself. She had wanted to make her mother smile again. It had been some time since Eliza's mother had smiled in a way that the girl had enjoyed. And now? That was impossible.

Eliza's siblings all said that they hurt her in so many ways to make her strong. It wasn't for that. It was to make themselves feel strong or important or powerful or whatever. It wasn't about character building. It was about putting down their youngest sibling. She had to know her place and she did.

The youngest daughter of the Orokin Emperor truly knew her place.

But…

She wasn't sure where she was. This portion of the Royal Palace was disused. It was immaculate as only Orokin tech could make something, but from various things that Eliza's implants could discern, this area hadn't been used in some time. Power readouts were low, in standby mode for the most part. Anything that had any traffic at all would have more power available. It wouldn't do for one of the Royal Family not to have power if they-

"She went this way!"

Eliza fought back a shudder was the voice of her chief tormentor, the third son of the Emperor, came to her ears. She crept back into shadows that seemed to grasp hold of her, but she ignored that as she slid further and further back into the place she was in. It was odd. It wasn't an Orokin hall now. The walls looked to be rough hewn stone but matched any Orokin hall for size. She paid little attention to her surroundings as three forms in golden uniforms stepped into her view, still in the golden hallway. She needed only one look to see that yes, it was Edward and his cronies, but it was odd. They were looking right at her, but they didn't seem to see her.

"She came this way!" The head bully of the Royal children said with a growl as his minions looked this way and that. "Where did that spineless little freak go? She cannot have gotten past us! This time, we will teach her a proper lesson again."

Eliza shoved her hand into her mouth to keep from crying out. The _last_ time he had decided to 'teach her a lesson' he had stolen her gown, jammed her communications and made her walk back to her quarters in her underthings. She had been four at the time and he fifteen. Now? She was almost six and he was seventeen. He was far too big and strong to fight. But now? He couldn't seem to _see_ her. Was that good or bad?

"And what kind of lesson might a spoiled little brat teach? Hmmm?" A very deep voice sounded from above and behind Eliza. She started to turn, but something wrapped around her and held her face to the wall! It wasn't Orokin energy, whatever it was. It was physical! She swallowed hard as she stared down and saw a huge claw around her waist. It was at least a big as she was! She stared up… and up… and up… She couldn't see far into the darkness, but whatever held her was BIG. It was also gentle. From the look of the claw? It didn't _need_ to be!

"Whoever said that, you insult a Prince of Orokin!" Edward blustered, but Eliza heard fear in his voice.

"Do I now?" Was the deep voice amused now? "Do yourself a favor, little bully prince. Find prey _elsewhere_."

The sheer power in that last word had all three of Eliza's nemesis fleeing for their lives, but for some odd reason, Eliza wasn't afraid. She stared up again as dim light grew around her and what she saw made her heart break.

The dragon was crying.


	9. Chapter 9

**Honahlee **

For a long moment, Eliza just stared at the huge form that was crouched in front of her, fascination overcoming any semblance of fear. She had seen a number of strange things in her life, things that any reasonably sane person would have run away from but she had been taught from an early age to show no fear. To look for things that most would not notice. This being, as odd as he was, was not not hostile. Indeed, he seemed bemused by Eliza. For her part, Eliza was fascinated. She liked odd things. Tenno were one of her fascinations, ever since an early escapade involving chocolate and a banister. The Royal Guard had been aloof for some time, but they had wavered under her unrelenting determination to understand these odd beings in armor that was and was not metal. She was never rude, but she never gave up either and they could appreciate that. They could be scary on occasion, but nothing like this.

"My name is Elizabeth." The girl said politely as the huge winged beast eyed her, the streams of silver falling form its eyes still seeping, if slower. "Thank you."

"What for?" The voice was still deep, but gentler as the huge head came down to her level. The mouth could have easily swallowed her whole, but for some reason, she felt safe. Not afraid at all.

"For not eating me?" Eliza asked and then clamped her hands over her mouth, mortified. Was that a _smile_ that curved the huge snout? Hard to say.

"I don't eat little girls who haven't been bad." The dragon said in a haughty tone that was oddly mocking and comforting. One huge eye slowly closed and opened. Had he just _winked_ at her? "Have you been bad?"

"I..." Eliza slowly shook her head. "I have been bad, occasionally. But I try hard not to be." She offered and the dragon chuckled.

"That is good." The huge being released her and shrank back into the shadows. "Your tormentors have fled, child Elizabeth. You should go."

"Do I have to?" Again, Eliza wanted to drag the words back into her mouth as soon as she said them. She reached out slowly to touch the massive scaled jaw and the wetness there. "You are beautiful!" She all but gushed and the dragon smiled, but it was melancholy.

"For the compliment, I thank you, but you should go, child."

A rush of warm air surrounded Eliza and she jerked as she sat up in her _bed!_ Had she dreamed that? No. She stared down at her hand. Something glistened in her hand. Something wet and silver. A tear.

* * *

The next day

Eliza had been a model student in her singing class. The instructor was a harsh being, but fair in his own way. She didn't mind that he took umbrage at her lack of ability. She did too and promised herself that she would get better. It would take time and not a little of it, but she would get better. She had already mastered the basic scales that he had given her and had time on her hands. There were many things that a very young princess could do when not in class, but the _last_ thing she wanted to do right now was talk to any of her siblings. If one of them were to blurt out happily that they had torn her garden down, she would likely react badly and wind up in punishment again. _She_ had no problem with the sensory deprivation chamber that her family used for such. She found such very relaxing but it always wasted time. Time that was always short.

And right now? She was on a mission.

The tear had vanished when she had tried to analyze it with her room's basic sensor suite. It had been real, she knew that. That meant that the _dragon_ was real. But that also meant that if she told anyone, they would either send the Royal Guard after it, which could get bad, or if her siblings found out about it, they would try and _take_ anything she liked from her. It was what they _did_.

So, she was very careful about how she eased back into the area she had fled into the day before. This time, she was wary of pursuit and laid trails for her tormentors to follow. The halls were just as empty as they had been before and the shadowed section beckoned to her. She was-

"Elizabeth? What are you doing here?" A soft voice called out and Eliza stilled as a dark skinned young woman stepped out of the shadows ahead of her. Her skin was far darker than Eliza's but that made sense. Naomi's mother had been from the African continent where Eliza's had been from the European one. Skin bias had gone the way of the dodo when Orokin had risen. Gold was good, everyone else was lesser. For her part, Eliza was torn as her elder sister Naomi stepped out of the shadows ahead of her. Naomi was weird. She was sixteen, on the cusp of womanhood. She was not nice, but she was not mean either. Sort of neutral? What Naomi said next had the little girl freezing. "Turn around." Naomi said with sigh. "Please?" Was she begging? "Elizabeth, _please_ turn around."

"They burned down my garden." Eliza went totally still as Naomi did.

"What?" Naomi asked and then she groaned. "Oh, those _s__tupid_ little _brats._" She knelt down and beckoned to the girl. "Elizabeth. You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have been here yesterday." Eliza froze. Naomi knew about that? "You need to come with me."

"No." Eliza said with a growl. "I have my personal time for the next hour! I can do what I want on my personal time! I want to do _this!_"

"Elizabeth! You do not know what you are doing!" Naomi begged as she held out a hand. "I will find you help to make a new garden! Just please… Come with me."

"No." Eliza said with a snap as she took another step towards the shadowed corridor. "I can't trust you! You are with _them._" Fury sang in her tone and she fought it back. It never helped to get angry with any of the ones who hurt her. Never.

"Technically, yes. I am your sister." Naomi looked as if she wanted to cry. "Please don't hurt her!" That wasn't to Eliza.

A huge sigh came from the shadow and then it lifted, showing a stone corridor that arced away from the Orokin hallway.

"I won't. You might as well both come in." The voice of the dragon was resigned. "She is likely to be almost as stubborn as you are, Naomi."

"I know." How had Naomi suddenly reached Eliza's side? Why was Eliza suddenly frozen in place? Naomi scooped the girl up and held her gently. Was she was crying softly? "She is a good one, my lord."

What? Naomi was a daughter of the Emperor just as Eliza was! She was a Princess of Orokin! She called _no one_ 'Lord' except the Emperor!

"What have I told you about calling me that, Naomi?" The dragon's voice was somewhat harsher now, but Eliza felt her incipient fear fade as Naomi carried her into a larger cave where the huge scaled form from yesterday sat eyeing them both.

"Not to. I apologize. I am stressed." Naomi sat, and arranged Eliza in her lap carefully holding the girl both to restrain and to comfort. "It is all right, Elizabeth. It is going to be all right." She started stroking Eliza's hair. Hair that was far too long for Eliza's tastes but her mother insisted that she keep it down to her waist and Orokin tech allowed for it to be cared for properly. "Shhh, easy girl. Easy."

"She is a good kid." The dragon said heavily. "I shouldn't have shown myself to her yesterday, but she was hurting so badly and she walked _right_ through the wards to get away from those idiot bullies. That should not have been possible."

"No, it shouldn't have been. I know what that means, but she is not even _six!_" Naomi's hands were so gentle, so soothing. "I want to help her and I can't. I will do as I swore. Our family's duty remains and we will abide by it."

"Naomi? Wha-?" Eliza managed through whatever was holding her.

"You know what duty is, Elizabeth." Naomi said sadly. Eliza managed a nod as Naomi's hands continued their gentle massage. "I know _you_ do not sleep through the classes on ethics like so many of our _esteemed peers _do." That was sour. "Something very bad happened a long time ago and I have to try to mitigate it. It cannot be undone. I am needed. You may be too someday."

"I don't understand." Eliza said weakly as she snuggled close to Naomi who let her. The kindness that her elder sister was showing was totally out of character for any of her kin.

"I know." Naomi's voice was coming from far away now. "Please, my lord? If she _is_ a potential, then she must be protected from those who would warp her."

"Such protection can cause more harm than good in the long term." The rumble of the dragon as oddly comforting. "That said? I will see what I can do. She is a good kid, but that does not mean she will be a good woman."

"No, but better _her_ in the role than any of our other kin." Naomi sighed deeply as her hands stopped their caresses and Eliza perked back up. "Silly girl." Her voice was kind as fingers tweaked Eliza's nose.

"What is wrong, Naomi?" Eliza pleaded as she carefully wrapped her arms around her elder sister. It felt right, if totally unnatural. She was hugged back. Royal siblings did _not_ hug one another. It just wasn't done! But here? Now? Who cared?

"You won't see me again, Elizabeth. At least, I hope you don't." Naomi was sad, but her tone turned proud. "You make me very proud, girl. I thought that none of my siblings had the strength of will or character to do what you did, but you have, haven't you? You have transcended your fear and become what the Royal Family was supposed to be all along. Protectors, not takers. Five years old and already well on your way to your destiny."

"You are going away?" Eliza pleaded. "No..." She begged as Naomi hugged her again. "Don't!"

"I have to, Honey." Naomi was so very sad now. "But I love you, Elizabeth. Stay strong. Be yourself. Don't let them, whoever they are, hurt you. Don't let them win."

Then Eliza was sitting on the _floor_ as golden energy swept Naomi's arms from around her and her sister was gone!

"Naomi?" Eliza asked, staring around wildly. But she was alone in the cave with the dragon who bowed his head. "_Naomi?_"

"She is gone, child." The dragon scooped her up like Naomi had and settled her on scales that were oddly soft under her as Eliza started to cry. "It is okay, girl. It is okay."

"_Why did she wait until _now_ to be nice?_" Eliza all but screamed that as she sobbed.

"Because to many of your family, kindness is a weakness and weakness will be taken advantage of." The dragon replied. "As she said and I say now; _Idiots_. Naomi was anything but weak. _You_ are anything but weak." His tone was so soothing, so gentle. "You gave me your name but I did not give you mine. That was rude of me. Names have power in many of the places I go, but you may call me 'Will'. That is not my true name, but it will suffice."

"Did Naomi die?" Eliza asked manifestly against her will. She understood far more than a human child would at age six, but she knew she had a lot more to learn.

"No." The dragon said heavily. "But if you ever see her again, _run._" Eliza stared up at the huge scaled snout, eyes huge and the dragon nodded. "What she has to do is awful and it will warp her into something truly horrible. I hope that you will not be called to take that role. I truly do."

"I… I do not understand." Eliza said weakly. "Is this something I won't understand until I am older?" She asked a bit petulantly and stepped hard on her tone.

"I certainly hope you do not understand it until you are older. If ever." The dragon replied. "You will need to get back to your life, little Elizabeth. Grow tall and strong. Remember your sister's courage and kindness. She was a good role model."

"That is why you were crying, wasn't it?" Eliza asked and the dragon bowed his head. "You knew yesterday."

"Several of your years ago, Naomi met me the way you just did. She was bit older and curious about things that it was better not to be curious about." The dragon replied. "That said, yes. She was my friend and I knew this was her last day here. I came to be with her here and now. Until her time came. But this is good too."

"It is?" Eliza asked. "How?"

"She did not go alone. She went knowing she was loved. You know the loneliness. The fear. The pain. The degradation." The dragon was so gentle now. Then he was crying again, shaking his head. "No. I shouldn't do this to you. I should take your memory and let you wake up in your bed. I should-"

He broke off with a gasp as Eliza surged up and grabbed his neck with her hands. She couldn't get her arms even a quarter of the way around the massive neck, but she hugged it as tight as she could.

"You are not alone!"

For a long moment, there was utter silence in the cave. Then it was broken by a sob from the dragon.

"Don't do this." The dragon begged. "Don't do this to _yourself!_ You don't even _know_ me!" He sighed. "And that is a good thing. Elizabeth, please! This will cause all kinds of problems."

"Every time I find something nice, my family destroy it or steal it." Eliza said with a growl. "No more! I won't let them win! I won't let them change who I am. I will talk to my mother, tell her I do not want to be a singer. I want to be an artist, not a singer."

"Your mother is dangerous, girl." The dragon warned. "Be wary."

"I know." Eliza sighed deeply. "I know I am just a foolish child, but I also know that I will stink as a singer."

"I highly doubt that." The dragon eased her away for his throat with a gentle claw and held her as she curled up in said claw, safe and warm. "If you are anything like Naomi was, then trying to make you change your mind will hurt." He chuckled. "That said, I do understand the loneliness and yes, it hurts. This _will_ cause problems." He warned Eliza who yawned and snuggled closer to the warm scales.

"I don't care." Eliza said with a small smile as she started to drift off. "Just… Can I ask for one thing?"

"If it is within my power, certainly, my friend." Someone else was singing softly. Something about 'Puff the Magic Dragon'? An odd lullaby but it worked. The voice was female, but Eliza was too tired to look for the singer.

"Only family calls me Elizabeth and I don't like them." Eliza was drooping, energy all but spent. "Call me something else?"

"How about 'Liza'?" The other inquired. "Close enough, but totally unique. Totally you."

"I like it." Eliza smiled and then stiffened, scrabbling weakly for a pocket. "Oh. Yeah. This is for you. Oh." She moaned as she fumbled what was in her hand and it flew away. It halted in mid-air and she smiled as the small thing flew back to her. She waved it away. "No. No, it is for you. Chocolate always make me less sad."

"Oh, girl." The dragon was so sad as Eliza finally dropped off. "Sleep. You are safe here." He did not look up as a clap of power heralded his mate arriving. Her gasp of shock said it all. "Yes. And _yes_." He said sourly but softly. "Don't wake the poor kid. She has had a bad day. She was here with Naomi when Naomi left to take the governorship of the prison."

"She is only a kid! She _cannot_ become a Darkstorm." The brown scaled form of his mate should not have fit into the cave but it morphed into larger as reality _did_ around its wardens. The silver scaled dragon looked at her and she hissed. "Do not even _think_ about it! You _know_ what Sharlina will do if you start altering people into the role! Let alone what the _rest_ of us will do. Even with volunteers, the job is bad enough as it is. Let the kid grow up. We have nothing but time."

"She is one of the good ones, Raviine." The silver dragon said sadly. "All honor and duty. Just like Naomi." He pulled the floating tiny foil wrapped thing to him and smiled as the foil flew off the chocolate and vanished. The treat flew into his mouth. "And I _do_ like her taste in chocolates."

"Idiot." The brown scaled form said with feeling as she stared at the sleeping girl. "You _know_ this won't end well."

"I know, but I have to try. Naomi came back when asked." The silver one said sadly. "This one will assume the role if needed as well. She is the same as Naomi was."

"Hopefully not _quite_ as impulsive as Naomi was." The brown scale dragon shuddered. The silver one just shrugged his wings and the brown one winced. "That bad?"

"Worse."

"Joy." The brown one slowly and carefully eased the slumbering girl into her own claw. Eliza gave a tiny cry on loss but eased as the brown claw warmed to her and soothed her. "_You_ get to talk to the Emperor. He won't be happy."

"This is _his family's_ mess!" The silver dragon morphed into a blonde haired human in formal Orokin attire, but the sword that hung at his side was anything but Orokin in nature. It wasn't even Tenno, but they would recognize it as an ancient style called a 'Spatha'. "Naomi didn't have to do that! She could have stayed with us!"

"She made her choice, husband." The brown dragon said sadly as she cradled Eliza close. "Now we see what choice_ this one_ makes."

"You _know_ what she will say, Raviine." The dragon in human form said sourly as he laid a hand on Eliza's hair. "Rest well, Liza. I will be right back."

Then he was gone.

The brown scaled dragon sighed as she curled up protectively around the slumbering girl in her claw.

"Yes, I fear that I do know what you will likely say if you are anything like Naomi Darkstorm was, dear Liza. I truly fear that. You do not deserve the hell that is our lives as wardens."


	10. Chapter 10

**Limits**

still in the past

Cathi stepped towards the garden with a heavy heart. She obeyed orders, even when she did not understand said orders. The Emperor had not commanded her, he had _asked_ as even an Emperor did of the Tenno Royal Guard. He could not explain _why_ Elizabeth, his youngest daughter, was in trouble, but he had said it was nothing of her own doing. That she had not caused the problem.

At least, not _that_ problem.

Being called into the Emperor's presence had been daunting to say the least, but that meant that Cathi had been away from her mistress when Elizabeth had told stalked in and _told_ her mother that she had no desire to be a singer and would not be pushed into that role. From all accounts the conversation had gone rapidly downhill and had gotten quite loud. Part of the Guardswoman was very glad she had missed that conversation. Everyone else who had been there had been very careful about what they said around the mistress and that only happened when she was _beyond_ angry.

Cathi liked what she had seen of Elizabeth. The kid was very young, but so bright, so cheerful, so kind and unlike most of the rest of her siblings, not arrogant or close-minded. She was young, true, but even young princesses were not immune to arrogance in Cathi's experience. Elizabeth wasn't that way. Odd, but more than a bit heartening. Cathi had seen many children come and go in the Royal Family since her induction into her mistress' ranks of loyal followers. Her mind shied away from that time. It had not been pleasant and the mistress did not like her probing her past too deeply. She knew her mistress had saved her and that was enough.

But now? Cathi had a duty.

She knew where Elizabeth was. Only an idiot or someone with a death wish assumed that the Royal Guard did not keep tight scrutiny on all of the Royal Family. It was their job. Elizabeth had managed to stymie the scanners somehow yesterday and the day before. More than one Guard had been dressed down for that lapse. She had come to no hurt and indeed, the Emperor had waved the concern aside, saying that the girl had been in less danger where she had been than anywhere else in the palace. Which made no sense, but then again, one did _not_ question the _Emperor! _He had promised Cathi that Elizabeth would accept her but warned the Guardswoman that it might take a great deal of time to build trust. Cathi understood that completely. She had warded children before and-

She stilled in her Valkyr warframe as the sound of muted sobs came to her sensors. Elizabeth was crying. She stepped into the garden and paused on seeing a grove of trees that had been almost utterly destroyed. This had been a garden, she knew. Eliza's garden. Now? It was a wasteland. Burnt trees, torn up earth, the remains of flowers scattered here and there. Nothing was growing here now. She watched, silent as Elizabeth reached out with her five year old senses and what power she was allowed at her age to touch one of the trees,. The guardswoman stilled further when she realized that Elizabeth was trying to _heal_ it! Such was well beyond the girl's ability. She would hurt herself and that was something that Cathi could not allow. Even if it wasn't her duty to her Emperor and her mistress? Elizabeth was not a bad kid. Just hurting.

"Stop!" Cathi said firmly as she stepped forward. "Princess! No! You cannot fix that with what power you have. You will hurt yourself!"

"Then I will get _more_ power." Elizabeth growled at the warframe, not even looking at Cathi as she focused on her task. "And _this_ time, I will _protect_ what I make from those _pricks!_"

Cathi fought not to recoil at the girl's vehemence. A profanity? Here? From _Elizabeth_ of all people? Oh, she had to be as furious as her mother was at the moment. Elizabeth was so respectful, so kindhearted that she was seen as weak by her siblings. That was silly, Cathi knew, but no one had ever called many of the inbred fools who inhabited the palace 'smart'. There was a _reason_ the Emperor had so many wives and it had nothing to do with promiscuity. Well, not with _this_ Emperor anyway. Past ones… That was another story, but not germane at the moment.

"I get that you are angry, Princess. I can see why and I _do_ understand." Cathi stepped to where Elizabeth was struggling, trying to get the bark to settle right. Such was _far_ harder than it looked, especially since parts looked as if they had been hacked with a sword. Not an ax, a sword. Such sacrilege. No Tenno did this. She knew who had and if she or _any_ of the Guard had caught him? It would have been both humiliating _and_ messy. "But healing that tree is beyond your ability. Start small, make big."

"If I make something small, then they will _step_ on it!" Elizabeth snapped, fury at this whole messed up situation lashing Cathi who took it and let it pass. "It is what they _do!_"

"It is all many of your siblings know how to do, yes. Break things and hurt people." Cathi said as he went to her knees beside the clearly furious princess and took the girl's hands in her own. She laid their joined hands on the tree as Elizabeth stared at her. "Not like that. Like this." She guided her internal energy into a pattern that eased Elizabeth's raw ability into a soothing pattern. The girl reacted as if she knew what to do. Odd. She wasn't supposed to be trained in such yet, then again, she was very bright and it wasn't that hard to figure out if one applied oneself. The tree responded, but slow as nature did it its own way. Cathi nodded and knew her smile was in her voice when she spoke. "Well done. Without a great deal more training and power, such healing will not be quick, but the tree _will_ heal, Princess. As will you even from this violation."

Elizabeth stared at the tree and then at her hands. Then she broke down and cried. Cathi just held her hands as sadness, rage and so many other emotions poured down the girl's face in salty waves. Finally, after quite a while, Elizabeth relaxed and pulled a hand free to dash across her face.

"I… Um... Tenno Cathi, right?" Elizabeth asked as she managed to control herself. "I… Um. I assume you are here to take me to punishment?"

"No." Cathi stayed where she was even as a warning chimed across her sensors. Another was approaching. One who she had _hoped_ would stay far away. This would not end well. "That is not my duty."

The Valkyr warframe was on her feet between Elizabeth and the newcomer before he could utter a word. He hand was not on the hilt of her Galatine sword, but it was not far away either. Prince Edward stared at the Tenno and then clearly dismissed her from his thoughts as he smirked at Elizabeth.

"Do you like what I did to the place?" The boy asked as Cathi stiffened. Provoking Elizabeth was a _bad idea!_ Especially right now. The girl _still_ had power in her control and she knew far more about controlling such than most had thought. Even the _Guard_ hadn't known she was so skilled. Healing was _hard_. Far harder than hurting and Elizabeth had almost been _managing it_. If she had been able to access more power, there would have been no danger and Cathi would have let her heal the tree! The girl knew what she was doing. More than could be said for her half brother. The boy had more raw power, true, but if Elizabeth lashed out, she _could_ hurt her brother. He didn't seem to realize that. Then again, he _was_ an idiot. A stereotypical bully in so many ways.

"I assumed it was you or one of your cronies. Most of the others would have confiscated it, not destroyed it." Elizabeth's voice was odd. Not angry now. Not sad. A bit resigned and... Cathi stilled. No. She was _r__eady! __Eliza__beth__ was going to fight! _A five year old against a teen? Utterly unthinkable, but she was about to!As controlled as the girl was? This boy was in for a hell of a shock."You just break things, Edward."

_Uh oh._ Cathi felt it happen. Elizabeth knew _far_ more about channeling power than _anyone_ had thought. Cathi stilled further as Elizabeth started to pull power from the palace networks! She was delicate about it, so no one would notice for a time if they were not right here. Cathi knew though and knew enough to be _very_ afraid. Little angry girl plus insane amounts of power equaled _bad_.

"Most of the time, yes." Edward was still clueless! "I think I will claim this place though. It will make a good sparring ground. Maybe a latrine." He smiled at the tree. "That tree will make a good piss pole."

"Over my dead body." Elizabeth's soft words were utterly unlike her. Cathi slowly shook her head. The girl had been pushed too far. _And the boy still didn't realize it!_

"Elizabeth, no!" Cathi begged as the power flared inside Elizabeth, but she hid it from her brother somehow. "Don't!"

"Listen to the Tenno, you little fool." Edward stepped fully into the garden surveying the area. "Get out of _my_ space."

"_**Make me.**_" Elizabeth said with a growl that was not like her at all. Why did Edward suddenly flinch? Why did his eyes widen? Too late, he realized just exactly what he had done. He realized, just a hair too slow, that Elizabeth had been pushed too far.

Then it was too late.

Raw golden power surged up around Elizabeth. For a moment, it outlined her entire body, making her hair seem to writhe with the same golden power. Then she threw out a hand and a bolt of pure energy slammed into the shield that Edward raised. Even bullies knew how to defend themselves. Not that it helped him much, because the bolt she hit him with was a _decoy! _Another bolt tore from the ground behind him and slammed into his unprotected back. He wasn't trained. He had been flushed out of military training for psychological reasons. Any Tenno or even halfway trained Orokin would know to ward from such, but the idiot hadn't had a _clue_. He had thought to browbeat his much smaller sister into compliance and she was done with that. Golden bolt after golden bolt after golden bolt slammed into him as he retreated, shields flaring all around him but failing as Elizabeth's wrath was given free reign at long last.

"Stop her!" Edward called out to Cathi desperately.

"Why?" Cathi demanded, more than a bit snide. She was enjoying the sight. She was not a nice person sometimes and his type brought out the worst in her. "It is not like she can kill you here." Kill a member of the Royal Family with power in the middle of the Royal Palace? Not a chance. Hurt him badly? Yes. Kill him? No. "You have earned her wrath. Frankly? I am enjoying this. You reap what you sow, bully."

"I _command_ you to stop her!" Edward snapped and Cathi shook her head.

"I do not take orders from you." Cathi replied as Elizabeth drooped, but kept up the barrage. Then the girl straightened, drawing more and more power to strengthen herself and throw at her brother! Cathi stilled and then snarled. Elizabeth was doing far more than was safe for anyone! Even Tenno knew better than to to do such. "Idiot! You should _run._" She said to Edward who stared at her and then took to his heels, golden energy flaring after him as alarms belatedly started to blare. "Elizabeth, stop! He is gone! He won't hurt your garden again!"

"_**Yes he will.**_" Elizabeth's voice was a horrible thing. All raspy with power and fear and anger all mixed. Five year old or no, she _scared_ the Guardswoman. The _last_ thing she wanted to do was kill Elizabeth, but if the girl lost control completely, Cathi might have no choice. Such vigilance was the basis of the duty of the Royal Guard. The royal medics could likely resuscitate her in the Palace, but such never did good things for young children. "_**It is what he does!**_"

"I won't let him." Cathi said as she took a slow step towards Elizabeth who was clearly fighting for control. The power flow ebbed and faded but she still held so much. Someone had finally cut her access. "Elizabeth? You have to calm down now. This is _your_ place and I accept your claim to it. The Guard will agree with me. _We_ won't let him."

"You… You can't stop him." Elizabeth's voice was more like herself as she slowly regained control. The power faded a little, back in her control. "I… Oh god, what have I _done?_"

"You defended what is yours. No more." Cathi was there to catch her as the girl collapsed. "Easy, easy." The Valkyr was very careful as she eased the trembling girl to the ground. Such power was not raised or tossed about lightly. If Elizabeth did not release it soon, bad things would happen to her. Cathi would not allow that. "Let the power go back into the network, slow and easy. Easy does it."

She was crooning, trying to calm the girl when a bark behind her threw her over top of Elizabeth. She rolled to her feet in trained reflex and spun as pain flared across her warframe. She saw _Edward_ with a Tigris Prime shotgun in hand. He had _shot_ her! The weapon clearly wasn't modded, since it hadn't hurt her, but it was still a hell of a shock. Even an _idiot_ knew not to attack a Royal Guardswoman! Didn't he? She snarled as he reloaded. Such a crude weapon might work here to kill someone, if she let him. She wouldn't.

"_You ignorant little shit!_ _Get out of here!_" Cathi screamed as he fired again, but this time, the pellets were caught by golden energy as Elizabeth rose from the ground, bouyed up by suddenly far stronger golden power. Edward's eyes were huge as he fired at _Eliza__beth_ this time and the pellets again did nothing but flare against her powerful shields.

"He attacked a Royal Guard." Elizabeth said in a voice that was calm, but not. He reloaded again. "He attacked me. Not with power, but with a weapon that might have worked."

"This place is mine now! Get out of my space, you ignorant little brat!" Edward snapped as he aimed, then screamed as Elizabeth's eyes flashed with golden power and his golden shotgun _exploded!_

"_You_ call _me_ ignorant?" Elizabeth said very softly as Edward waved his hands, trying to clear the burning fragments off his gloves. "Guardswoman Cathi? This man has attempted murder of a Royal Guard _and_ murder of a Royal Daughter. Do your duty."

"Yes, Princess." Cathi stepped between the two, although it took every ounce of her willpower to turn her back on the incredibly powerful and _volatile_ little girl. Every hair she had was on end as power flared behind her again and again. Elizabeth was in trouble, but if this idiot tried again, so was he and maybe everyone in the area if Elizabeth lost control of as much power she now held! Edward drew a Sicarus Prime pistol from somewhere and Cathi shook her head. "Don't be even _more_ of a fool, Prince Edward. You have no chance against me. Stand down or get hurt. Your choice. You _will_ face your Father for this."

The cold scorn in her voice had the boy recoiling, but like any bully, he reacted as all of them did when thwarted. He aimed, not at her, but at Elizabeth! Cathi had seen enough. A crack and her Ripline sliced out to grab his pistol from his hand. It flew to hers. She unloaded it carefully and then glared at the now ashen faced boy.

"Stand down! _Now!_" Cathi snarled and the boy recoiled further. "If you draw _another_ weapon, I _will_ hurt you and I _will_ enjoy it." She took a step towards him and he all but stumbled away from her. "What is the matter, bully? Not so easy to scare someone who isn't _half your size_, is it_? _Please give me an excuse to hurt you! _Please!"_

The door that led out out of the garden and into the Palace hissed open and half a dozen golden warframes surged into view, Royal Guard answering the alarm. Cathi sent a data burst to them, explaining the situation before the boy could open his mouth. All of them radiated shock and rage as soon as they read her data. He opened his mouth, but she beat him to speech.

"Prince Edward, you are under arrest for _attempted_ theft and _committed_ vandalism of Royal property as well as attempted _murder_ of a Royal Guardswoman and Princess Elizabeth." Cathi said into sudden _utter_ silence. The last two were capital crimes even for members of the Royal Family. "Get him out of here before Elizabeth gives in to her anger! Let me try to calm her down, then I can give a statement." She said sadly as she looked at where Elizabeth stood, still glowing golden. "Elizabeth..." She pleaded as she stepped towards the girl. "Let it go, girl. Let it go. He is in custody." Indeed, she could hear a scuffle behind her as Edward was dragged from the garden. She had no doubt that the Royal Guard would be utterly professional. That did _not_ mean they had to be _gentle_. "No matter who birthed him, the Emperor _cannot_ overlook this. Not with so many official witnesses."

"I..." Elizabeth shook her head. "I... I don't know how to let this much go safely."

"I do." Cathi stepped up to the radiating Princess and slowly, carefully laid a hand on Elizabeth's arm. It hurt, but she was no stranger to pain. "Let me help. My duty is to protect you now and I will do my duty."

"What?" Elizabeth asked, confused as the power that was flaring in her faded under Cathi's ministrations. "What do you mean?"

"I was sent to protect you and I am glad I was here." Cathi said gently as Elizabeth's power faded further. "I shudder to think what that murderous fool would have done if you had thwarted him without an official witness here."

"You are my mother's guard." Elizabeth said weakly. "Not mine."

"The Emperor ordered me to protect you." Cathi said quietly. "I obey my orders. Like I say, I am glad I was here."

"What? No." Elizabeth shook her head. "I..."

Then she screamed. That was the only warning Cathi had before raw golden power flew around her again, drawn back by her emotions, but _uncontrolled_. There was only one thing to do as the portal that yawned in back of her gaped wide and pulled her towards it despite her frantic struggles. Cathi grabbed Elizabeth and held her tight as they were both pulled into it. Then _Cathi_ screamed as the girl lashed out at her, clearly thinking herself under attack. Then the Guardswoman was falling.

So…

Slowly…

Was it her imagination that more than one voice screamed with her? Not all were human voices, if so.

Then she knew no more.


	11. Chapter 11

**Good catch, Renleech. That wasn't a retcon. It will make some sense shortly. Some.**

* * *

**Truths**

"And the portal that Eliza opened sent us across the reality barrier." Cathi Gata said slowly when the dragon in human form finished talking. Something about the story was wrong. She was sure of that. But at least, the pair of incredibly scary and dangerous beings in front of her were not threatening each other now. That was a win. Anything else could wait.

"Yes." The woman had banished her staff and now stood, her head bowed. "It wasn't Elizabeth's fault."

"I remember that idiot prince pushed her into a fight that he lost, but... He _shot_ me? Tried to shoot _her_?" Cathi Gata asked, shaking her head. "Even _he_ knew better than _that!_"

There had been very few things that had been capital crimes for the Royal Family. Murder or attempted murder had been one of them. Even Eliza's mother hadn't _killed_ other members of the Royal Family. What she had done was worse in some ways, but in the end? Eliza was alive and her mother wasn't. A win.

"The Emperor was most displeased with him." The dragon said quietly. "He was one of the eldest, but there are limits for a reason. He passed those limits and he paid for it. _We_ immediately started tracking you both, but the power flares blinded us for quite a while. No one expected her to do that. To be _able_ to do that. Least of all _her._"

"She wouldn't have had any idea how to focus a portal. Even now, that is not something to do lightly." Cathi Gata said weakly. Both the dragon and the Bladeborn nodded. "She jumped blind?"

"Yes." Raviine said softly. "We were very worried that she and you were lost forever. We did not find you until you came here. You had managed to hold onto her, keep her safe through the journey. Then when you landed far from your home, you and she started back. She was hurt but healed under your protection. She was terrified of using her power again."

"Hard to blame her." Cathi Gata looked around at the forbidding black stone walls. "So… Here?"

"Here." The dragon said sadly. "We were tracking you, but you moved so fast it was hard to try and figure out where you were going next. Our trackers were a day or so behind you when you arrived here to ask for information. You know what happened here."

"I was hurt. Eliza let her power loose." Cathi Gata said softly. Everyone nodded. "And… I do not understand. Is she one person or three?"

"Such descriptions do not work for a being such as your ward became to save you and herself." Raviine said sadly. "She is both one person and many. Luckily, only one of those was driven insane."

"By you." Nia Korr hadn't spoken for some time. Now she was glowering at the dragon in human form again.

"We erred, yes." The dragon replied. "I freely admit that we erred." She met Cathi Gata's stunned look with a sad expression. "We arrived just after the Horsemen cleared this area. We tried to send Eliza home. She refused to go without you and you were a mess. We insisted. She resisted."

"What did you do?" Cathi Gata felt faint. Falcon laid a hand on her arm and she felt a bit better.

"I can make no excuse for our actions." Raviine was still so very quiet. "We often have to act swiftly, without hesitation or far more than one life will be lost. This is often seen as evil, or at the very least pragmatic to the point of evil. There is some truth to that." She admitted. "Good and evil are such fluid concepts but when she refused to go, our agent tried to confine her. In retrospect, that was a serious mistake. Her love for you was all that was keeping her sane with such sudden omnipotence and when she broke out of her confinement, she wasn't sane."

"She is not insane." Cathi Gata said weakly.

"And you are the reason." Nia Korr stepped to the shuddering warframe and took Cathi's right hand in both of her own. "My own power of Mirrors is incredible, but what you did… I am in awe." She gave the former Guardswoman's hand a squeeze. "My brother who found you thought you were a droid at first. Just a machine who resonated oddly in the Force. Then you lashed out at those Empire fools who thought to take him. Even with your mind half destroyed, you knew the difference between good and evil. You saved him and we took you in. We liked you and you liked us. We did not understand what you were until Elizabeth arrived. Until she appeared out of nowhere, hugged you tight enough to hurt you even in your armor and would not stop crying. Would not stop begging you to forgive her."

"What did I do?" Cathi Gata begged.

"You forgave her." Nia Korr smiled as Cathi Gata choked. "She knew on some deep, instinctive level that you were safe. That you were her friend. She hurt you. She didn't mean to. She _certainly_ did not mean to cast you back across realities and almost certainly not to our reality." She shook her head. "The Force must have guided you to us. That is really the only explanation that fits."

"I do not remember you." Cathi Gata said weakly and Nia squeezed her hands again. She stared at the dragon. "Did you do that?"

"No." Raviine said quietly. "Elizabeth did."

"What?" That came from several people. Not from Nia Korr, the former Guardswoman realized.

"I do not see the future." The dragon was still so very quiet. "I did not know what had happened to you. All I know is that when you and she came back, she was still insane, but she was very subdued. Then she split into three versions of herself. Only one was insane. One to stay here. One to go back to Nia Korr's reality. One to go with you. She wiped your memories of the your travels and the last copy of her had no memories of the travels. She refused to say why and our agent refused to press her." Her smile was more than bit forced.

"_That_ at least was wise." Cathi Gata snapped. Then she slumped. "Why? Why not just stay here? She is needed here. Even if part of her is insane, then you can tend that one?" She all but begged the Bladeborn.

"She asked us to ward that version of her and our Grandmaster at the time promised her we would. We have. As for why? You know the answer to that, Cathi Gata." Nia Korr said softly and Cathi Gata stared at her. "You just do not want to admit it."

"No. I don't." Cathi Gata shook her head. "This makes no sense!" She stilled as the dragon stepped to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It does." The brown haired woman who wasn't one sounded close to tears. "It makes _horrific_ and _beautiful_ sense. 'No greater love hath a being', Guardswoman, 'than she will lay down her life for her fellow'." Cathi Gata stared at her and the former Guard's world was crumbling underneath her.

"No." Cathi Gata inhaled as terrible realization dawned. If Eliza _loved_ her… And Cathi had been a _slave_… "Oh no. No, no, nonononononono!"

She had loved Eliza and had sacrificed for the girl several times. Maybe far more than she remembered. That love hadn't been programmed in like obeying Eliza's mother had been. If _Eliza_ had loved _her, _then the girl would not have wanted to leave Cathi in such dire straits! No matter the cost to herself!

"She went back to save you." Falcon was hushed, awed. "She let herself go through all of what she did to save you."

"_NO!_" Cathi Gata screamed and suddenly everyone was holding her as she fought fruitlessly to get loose. "_NO! Eliza! No!_"

"Cathi Gata! Eliza needs you!" Falcon snapped and the words cut right through Cathi Gata's almost hysteria. "Eliza needs you now!"

"_I AM NOT THAT IMPORTANT!_" Cathi Gata screamed and then her face rocked. She stared at the Nova Prime warframe who was withdrawing her hand. Sera had slapped her.

"If you get hurt again, or if you even lose control, _our_ version of Eliza will react badly." Nia Korr said with a sigh. "You _are_ that important. Calm. Down." That was a command and Cathi Gata felt herself relax. She knew this woman on some deep level beyond memory. Nia Korr nodded. "Yes, we knew each other, called each other 'sister'. Fought beside one another against many threats. I can't stay but there is one thing I _can_ do."

Cathi Gata stilled as Nia Korr drew a sword, but that wasn't the sword that hung at her back. The one that hung there looked like a single handed blade. The one that Nia flipped easily and held out to Cathi Gata handle first was an odd sword. It was almost like a Glaive, but not. It had two short curved blades that arced around the handle, each with a single razor sharp edge. The sword bore no marking except an oddly stylized sword etched into each blade near the handle and as tone that sat the exact middle of it. The stone on the pommel flashed red as Cathi Gata extended her hand to the sword. Everyone let her loose as she took hold of the handle and the stone flashed blue.

"I give you back your sword, Masterblade." Nia Korr said quietly as she released the sword and stepped back. "Be true to the Code, sister. The Tenno Code and ours are not in conflict and never will be. All else may be a Mirage, but you know the Code and you will abide by it."

"I do not remember yours!" Cathi Gata begged as the sword in her hand lightened. It seemed part of her. Just like her Glaive.

"Yes, you do." Nia's smile was kind as she started to speak and then Cathi Gata was speaking with her in a language that the Tenno was unsure how she knew. [Loyalty. Duty. Honor. Respect. Vigilance. Prowess. Humility. Courtesy. Valor. Service. Sacrifice.]

"We are Bladeborn." Cathi Gata said very softly as Nia Korr bowed to her.

"We are Bladeborn." Nia Korr smiled once more and vanished. But her voice spoke once more out of nowhere. "We know our own. May Ashla be with you, sister."

Cathi Gata stared at the blade in her hand and then concentrated on her _other_ hand. Her Glaive manifested from that hand and she held _two_ hand held saws that morphed to look like Prime Glaives. She slowly shook her head as both Glaives spun in opposite hands. Everyone stepped back from her as they did, but she had them under control. She stared at her hands as the Glaives slid back into resting position. Then she chuckled a bit ruefully.

"Oh, _this_ is going to take some getting used to." The newly armed Tenno jerked as a symbol appeared on her left arm. From one angle, the image appeared to be a stylized sword just like the one on the blades of her new (or old) weapon. She shook her head. "I do not remember, but I have my duty. Eliza is in trouble."

"Yes." Gemina Horati had been silent throughout the whole recital of the past.

"And you cannot come." Not a question.

"You are needed, so the Creator sent me and the Horsemen to recover you before you perished." Gemina said quietly. "Falcon and Sera can go. I cannot. The _other_ me did horrific things there. She was punished but there is too much baggage. I can do more good here with fewer complications. I _want_ to help you, Cathi Gata, but me going back would not end well."

"No." Cathi Gata shook her head and then reached out to embrace the Equinox warframe who stood as if frozen. "It was good to remember that not all of what I went through was bad. Gemina _was_ a good commander. She thought about the mission first, her soldiers second and herself last. You are as she should have been all along. I hope you find..." She paused and shook her head. "I don't know. Something? Warrior Tenno do not die in bed, but..." She sighed as Gemina slowly reached up to return her hug.

"Whatever happens, know that you are not alone, Cathi Gata." The Equinox gave Cathi Gata a squeeze, then released her and retreated a step. "I am needed here." She leaned close. "Be wary. Life is filled with illusions when you least expect it."

Mirrors. Mirage. Illusions. Cathi Gata felt her world shift yet again! She hadn't _worn_ a Valkyr warframe as a Royal Guard! She had worn a _Mirage!_ The story the dragon had spun hadn't been true! About _that_ at the very least. Had _any_ of it been true? She remembered some, but it was hazy. Could she trust anything the dragon had said? Gemina shook her head minutely, following her fellow Guard's thoughts as only a warrior who had been at her side for a very long time could.

"I do not know what I can do." Cathi Gata said softly. "I will help Eliza if I can, but I do not know what I can do that her own people cannot."

"You will find a way." Gemina said as she stepped back and the others stepped close. "You always do. Be well, be wary and beware ambush." She wasn't looking at Cathi Gata! She was looking at _Stalker_ who nodded slowly.

"If you all are done _bonding_, we need to save your Empress." The dragon said with a snap.

"Yes, we do." Cathi Gata turned to Falcon whose posture was unsure. "Falcon? What can you tell me?"

"Um, me?" The squeak from the Revenant warframe almost eclipsed the growl of annoyance from the dragon in human form.

"Yes, you." Cathi Gata turned to Sera whose inclined head said much. The Nova Prime moved to stand beside the Revenant as Cathi Gata moved to stand with them. Stalker moved as well, totally by accident standing between them and the dragon. Of course it was. "Did your mother bring you here or did you come on your own?"

"I came. She didn't come back." Falcon said weakly as the dragon growled louder. "She told me to find you if she didn't come back."

"To find me." Cathi Gata took Falcon's hand in her own. "You have, sister. _Now!_"

Sera and Stalker grabbed hold of her as Falcon shimmered with power and suddenly the quartet were elsewhere. A large room that had an upright metal disk with odd symbols around the edge of it shone nearby on a raised platform. Nothing else but some tarp covered things were in the room. From the dust on said tarps, this room hadn't been used in quite a while. A roar of rage sounded, more felt that heard, but then the world shimmered again and again in rapid succession and Falcon wilted, her power fading. Cathi Gata pulled her close, offering of her own power to the struggling girl who nodded gratitude.

Now, they stood on a metal deck and _many_ Sentients flowed from all around to surround the group. Cathi Gata stiffened, but Falcon called out as she fell.

"Grandmother!" The Revenant warframe fell to one knee and Cathi Gata held her up, pouring her power into the faltering being. Her legs refused to hold her up. Cathi Gata eased her down and then all the way down to the floor. "Help!"

"Falcon! Silly bud! What have you _done?_" A huge green Sentient swept close, energy flaring to cover the warframe and Falcon relaxed. Cathi Gata continued to try and pour power in and it seemed to help. The green Sentient turned so that its front was to the newly come group, all of whom remained very still since every Sentient in the room had appendages raised and aimed. The voice from the huge one was calmer now. "I have her, Tenno."

"Is she going to be all right?" Cathi Gata pleaded as she cut her flow and all of the Sentients seemed to be staring at her.

"In time, yes." The huge green form morphed and suddenly an old woman made of silver metal stood in front of the Tenno. Old from the wrinkles on her face, but unbowed. "I should have known she and Natah would do something crazy, but _this_..." She made an all too human noise of disgust. "_This_, I did not expect at all." She nodded to Sera and Stalker before focusing on Cathi Gata. "Do I know you, Tenno?" She inquired. "Your energy seems familiar, but your warframe is not."

"I met Galah." Cathi Gata said softly. The metal woman was impassive but the Tenno continued. "You have my condolences. I know what it is to lose family. I am Cathi Gata and you are Natah's mother."

"I am. I learned a few Tenno names during that mess. Cathi Gata." The Sentient who had borne the being who had become the Lotus in the universe said very slowly. "You are the Royal Guard who took Galintra prisoner."

"That did not work out as planned." Cathi Gata stared as the Sentient made a noise that had to be humor of some kind. Odd, but clearly recognizable as humor.

"Tell me Tenno. Does _anything_ ever work _exactly_ as planned for you?" The Sentient inquired as she turned to scrutinize Stalker who knelt before her, laying his sword on the deck. For her part, Sera was frozen. "It does not for me. I always have to change plans after I start implementing them."

"Me too." Cathi Gata agreed. "I do not know what is going on here, but I do know I have been lied to."

"Oh, my dear, you have no idea." Cathi Gata was hardly the only being to jerk in surprise as _the Lotus_ stepped out of nowhere in her blue armored human form to stand beside Falcon, then knelt beside the fallen Revenant warframe. "Easy, Falcon."

"Mom… I tried to hide my tracks… But they will follow..." Falcon pleaded.

"Sleep, Falcon!" The Lotus said sternly as she poured power of her own into the warframe and Falcon lay still. The Lotus laid a hand on the Revenant's helmet and then bowed her head. "Rest well, daughter. I fear we will need you." Then she rose and nodded to Cathi Gata. "This is not what I hoped for. They refuse to let her go. They think to save her and all they will do is drive her mad. I managed to get her loose last time by trickery, but this…? I fear I have failed Eliza. My one, true human friend."

"Failed? Not yet, you haven't." Cathi Gata said with a growl. "Eliza is strong. She won't give up."

"That is what I am afraid of." The Lotus replied and her visible face was bleak. "That is what the wardens are counting on."

"What do the _wardens_ want with her?" Cathi Gata demanded.

"They want her, and you, _back_."


	12. Chapter 12

**Living lies  
**

"Was any of what I was told true?" Cathi Gata fought hard not be angry as the Lotus sat down beside Falcon. Anger would not help here. "I remember Eliza crying in the garden. I remember that idiot prince coming in and she _trounced_ him."

"Yes, she did." The Lotus said with a smile. "Say what you will about Eliza, _do not_ make her _mad_. It will _hurt._" She shuddered dramatically and Cathi Gata shared it. The being who had once been the sole guide for Tenno shook her head. "I do not know all of the facts. I do know she beat the snot out of that arrogant princeling. He had no idea how much she had been studying."

"He destroyed her garden." Cathi Gata said softly but paused as the Lotus shook her head. "What?"

"He had help." The Lotus said very softly. "Naomi was about to be lost to them and they were looking for a replacement for her. They found Eliza and worked hard to see how far they could push her."

"They… _pushed_ Eliza?" Cathi Gata asked carefully as the silver form of Natah's mother stepped to the blue armored form's side. "That is not a good idea."

"No." The Lotus agreed. "Not a good idea at all. They learned that a bit too late. The Emperor was not happy."

"The Emperor knew about the wardens, didn't he?" Cathi Gata asked as she tired to parse all of this. The Lotus nodded. "So… Why push Eliza? Why hurt her?"

"No one wanted to hurt her except her idiot brother. The wardens had maintained a close watch on the Royal Family since a particularly bad incident involving one of the younger sons, a reality breach and lots of collateral damage." The Lotus said with a shrug. "They chose Naomi to join their ranks. They have their own criteria and they have rules that they follow. Said rules do not always make sense to us mere mortals."

"And then Naomi… died?" Cathi Gata asked and paused as the Lotus shook her head. The Tenno groaned. "I am not going to like this, am I?"

"No one who knows about it does." The Lotus agreed. "The really sad thing is the wardens _did_ have a good reason for trying to recruit Eliza. From their point of view? She was a child in danger. She had raw ability that few showed. She was smart. incredibly smart for her age, incredibly responsible and kindhearted, but at the same time, willing to do whatever it took. You saw."

"I did." Cathi Gata allowed. "So… I was there. She lost control of her power?"

"No." The Lotus sighed. "She, and you, were pulled out of our reality. They did not expect you to hold of her and come along with her, but you refused to leave her side. From what I understand, not much, they were kind to her and you. They offered her the job and _you_ at least reasonably politely told them to go screw themselves."

"I told the _wardens __**what?**_" Cathi Gata asked, stunned. "I... That is _insane!_"

"Well, they _had_ just kidnapped you and your protectee." The Lotus replied and Cathi Gata nodded, manifestly against her will. "No matter how gentle they were about it, that _is_ what they did. I will say this about them, they _could_ have been far less gentle."

"I think I know where this is going..." Cathi Gata said slowly and everyone looked looked at her. "They refused to release us, didn't they?"

"Eliza was almost in heaven from what she told me later." The Lotus was sad now. "Here she was, surrounded by people who _really_ wanted to make a difference. Who liked her for _who_ she was. Not what, a princess, but for _who she was_. For her ability, her drive, her raw talent. They liked her and she liked them."

"And I got in the way, didn't I?" The Tenno said very quietly.

"No." A new voice! Every single Sentient spun to aim at a being who shimmered into being near one wall, but the man wasn't hostile. No. _That wasn't a __hu__man!_ No human had such a deep voice. "You had your duty, Guardswoman. No more, no less." In form, he was a blonde haired man of middle years. He wore a long sword, but his hand was far from it. Indeed, he had his hands folded to his shoulders. "Liza is a good soul. A very good one. Naomi was too and I failed them both." He shook his head. "The others won't listen to me. Maybe they will listen to you."

"Who are you?" The huge green sentient was back in her true form, energy flaring in agitation.

"I am not your enemy, Sentient. My dear friend Liza called me 'Will'." The man said as he stepped forward as if he hadn't a care in the world despite the many weapons aimed at him. Despite Stalker and Sera both having weapons in hand now. "I told them, Rebekah. She didn't _want_ to do it! _Doesn't_ want to do it. I don't… I tried." To Cathi Gata's stunned amazement, the odd man -if he _was_ one-, knelt at _her_ feet. "We wronged you and her. It cost you both. You did as your duty demanded and you did it well. You won."

"Won what?" Cathi Gata asked, poised to fight or flee.

"Won the _twelve_ challenges that various of our number leveled on you to try and get you to leave." The man who called himself Will said with a small smile. "Liza is not to be underestimated. Neither are you."

"You are..." Cathi Gata swallowed hard but the man just nodded.

"A warden, yes. I was on watch when Naomi returned home. When she took up the role she was called to." The man bowed his head. "Naomi was a good friend. I know she is not gone, but the good woman I knew is no more."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata demanded. "I fought? For Elizabeth?"

"You did. We all knew that Liza would be called to take the same role and she was a good kid!" Will did not move even as the ranks of Sentients swirled around the area. "Naomi was a good sister and a good friend, but there are strict criteria that have to be met to take that role and she was the only member of the Royal Family who met those criteria. Now? Liza is the only one left who meets them. As always, she will step up to shoulder any burden that she deems needed for the protection of her people. Her own needs or wishes be damned, she will do it. I wanted to save her. That was wrong of me, but I so wanted to save her!"

"What 'role'?" Cathi Gata asked very quietly, her hands all but quivering in the need to draw her weapons. She was not expecting the Lotus to answer her.

"Governor of the prison." The blue armored form bowed her head when Cathi Gata looked at her. "I… Part of me wishes I had let you take her."

"You were right, Rebekah." Will replied. "I was and _am_ angry about _how_ you did it, but _what_ you did? You were right. She was confused. She was not thinking clearly and the others took advantage. If she had realized… She would have been very angry but if she _had_ sworn? She would be stuck."

"She was fairly annoyed when she came back to her senses." The Lotus said sadly. "I am glad I was there."

"So am I." What had to be the Lord of the wardens of reality was equally sad. "I have many regrets. How badly I failed Liza and Naomi are high on that list."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata begged and the man sighed.

"My kin don't deal so well with being thwarted and you thwarted us _good_." The man smiled at her. "There are never a lot of us available. We are spread thin across so many realities. Even as powerful as we are, there are limits. None of us wanted to _hurt_ Liza and after Naomi? None of wanted to _lose_ her either."

"Oh no." Cathi Gata groaned and then man nodded.

"The kin who had you both refused to let you take Liza home and would not say why." Will sighed deeply. "In perfect 20/20 hindsight? That was a blunder. If we had explained… If we had _told_ you and her _why_ we didn't want you to take her home, I doubt either of you would have objected. I do not know if we could have freed you, but we could have kept _her_ safe."

"Safe in a cage of responsibility." Cathi Gata said very softly and the man nodded.

"We protect our own." The Darkstorm replied. "If she had joined us? We would have protected her. You? We would have taken you in a heartbeat. You have every trait we need and then some. But you had your duty. _Have_ your duty."

"My kin need me." CathI Gata agreed. "Eliza needs me."

"Now more than ever." The not human at her feet agreed. "I messed up, before and now. We all have." At the Lotus' quick inhale, he nodded. "Raviine wanted to save both you and Liza, Cathi Gata. That is why she told you half truths. I do not know if saving Liza is possible. I pray it is. I still love my friend."

"As do I." The Lotus said quietly.

"Eliza is asleep." Cathi Gata said slowly. The man and the Lotus both nodded. "And when she wakes…?"

"When she wakes, the Prison will call her." The Lotus shook her head. "The wardens will take her to keep her safe, but she will refuse to remain there just as she did the last time. She will not let the responsibility fall onto someone who is unprepared. The last time it was the Crown. Now? The Prison."

"No, she won't." Will agreed, his tone sad and proud. "It is not in her to do such. None of the rest of her family as they are now could handle it."

"What 'Prison'?" Cathi Gata demanded. "No Orokin prison survived until this time."

"One did." The Lotus said sadly. "The Prison of Duty." Cathi Gata stared at the blue armored form and then hissed in shock mixed with terror. The one time guide of the Tenno bowed her head.

"No." The Tenno retreated a step, only to have the green Sentient slide up behind her. Offering support? "Oh, god! No! Not _Eliza!_"

"I am afraid so." Will said sadly. "She is the only one who fits now. Pure blood. DNA match. Female. The governors are always female."

"What is this 'Prison of Duty'?" Natah's Mother asked into the silence that fell as Cathi Gata fought to keep from crying. "I get that it is bad."

"It wasn't always." Will frowned. "It wasn't intended as a bad thing. It turned out that way."

"But what is it?" Mother asked.

"It is where Eliza was born." Cathi Gata said weakly and everyone stared at her except Will and the Lotus. "_Naomi_ was called to govern it?" Will nodded, silent. "Oh no. No." The green Sentient moved right up to her and soothing energy washed over the Tenno. It didn't help much. "I… No! We have to help her!"

"_We _can't." Will said very softly. "Maybe you _can_."

"I do not understand." The Sentient who led this small group of outcasts said slowly. "From what little I know of this Empress, she is not one to be trifled with but is also not one to act rashly."

"_You_ didn't see her when she was a _kid_." Cathi Gata and Will chorused that and looked at one another. They shared a grim laugh.

"Okay." The Sentient actually sounded prim, but also on the edge of laughter. "No, I didn't. Some of what I have heard makes me very glad of that." Will, Cathi Gata and the Lotus all nodded. "But, Natah, this makes no sense. What kind of prison can hold someone like that? Especially with such beings as _these_ willing to aid her, to defend her?"

"If I may? I can answer that." Cathi Gata asked the Lotus who nodded. Will bowed his head as the green Sentient spun to point its energy 'face' at her. "It touches on my duty."

"I honestly do not understand." Mother had a frown in her voice. "From what I know, no prison could hope to hold that woman."

"No normal prison, no." Cathi Gata agreed. "The Prison of Duty has no walls, no bars, no energy barriers. No one knows where it is or even _what_ it truly is. What is known is what it _does_."

"What does it do?" The green Sentient clearly did not want to ask that.

"It makes certain that the first and most important function of any human monarch is fulfilled." Cathi Gata said sadly. "The Orokin Royal Family learned by trial and error how not to do many things. They made a lot of mistakes over the millennia that Orokin ruled the Origin system. There was _one_ that _none_ of them wanted to make. Human history abounds with examples of how such can go wrong. So they found a way to keep it from happening."

"The first function of a monarch? That is in our files. That is defined as 'ensuring a clear line of succession and-'" Mother broke off and gasped, horror oozing from every metal form in the area as all realized what she meant. "Oh holy metal! _No!_"

"Eliza doesn't have enough heirs to be sure that the line continues." Cathi Gata said sadly. "She only has daughters. Such has happened before. The Emperor at the time disappeared for a month and when he came back? He was not alone and he wasn't sane. Six babies came with him. I do not know what happened there. No one knew or would talk about it. I do know that it is mostly automated. I know that it is hidden far from any possible finding by any of my people." She looked at the warden who shook his head.

"We looked." Will was just as sad. "When Naomi was called, we looked. We hoped to leave a copy of her or something. We could not find it. It was hidden from our sight."

"And ours." Stalker spoke up for the first time and Cathi Gata nodded. He had been a lower guardian.

"Naomi?" Cathi Gata asked and Will sighed.

"There are always at least two members of the Royal Family who are _stored there_. One male. One female." Will's tone might have frozen an ocean. "After all this time, neither will be alive. The machinery won't care. From what I understand, it only cares for the DNA. There is also always one who is taken and turned into energy form to run it when the previous governor goes completely mad. Naomi was the last one. By now? She is likely faltering and it will be seeking a new governor."

"Automated reproduction." The Sentient sounded punch drunk. "I saw what they did first hand and even now… Just when I think I _might_ have a handle on how evil the Orokin were… They did _that_ to their own _children?_"

"Not all of them were evil. Enough of them were. Every _single_ Emperor and Empress I talked with about that agreed with you." Will said sourly. "That is why so many of them had so many kids. So that the Prison would not activate. Every so often, it did anyway. The governors only lasted so long. Naomi was called to take her place there. To… be..." He swallowed and then Sentient pulsed as in in grief.

"To be nothing but a warden for genetic material. And if I know anything about Orokin, also the one who would force whoever to bear or seed said material." The green Sentient was horrified. Then her tone hardened as both the Lotus and Will nodded. "We cannot allow this to happen! I may hate Orokin, but this Eliza is a good being by all accounts! She is fair and open minded from everything Natah has told me. She is Natah's friend! Even if she _is_ Orokin, I am a nurturer! I _cannot_ allow such a horror to happen to _any_ life bearer of _any_ race!"

"Eliza had her own reasons to hate Orokin." Cathi Gata agreed. "But if she goes in there, she won't come out sane."

"She didn't." Will said softly and everyone stared at him in horror. He bowed his head. "Raviine did not lie to you entirely. She was gentle, but thorough in binding you and Liza where she did while she tried to convince you to leave and Liza to join us. She did not reckon on Liza's ingenuity or your courage. She was quite surprised when you two managed to break free and flee." Everyone stared at Cathi Gata who felt embarrassment rise as the dragon in human form smiled at her. "Well done."

"Across the realities." Cathi Gata said weakly and Will nodded. "And… You wardens tracked us."

"Some." Will allowed. "Others of us? Well, _I _for one wasn't _about_ to try and stop you." He shrugged as the Tenno stared at him. His smile was a bit forced. "I knew Liza's temper."

"So, we fled and tried to get home, but had no idea how." Cathi Gata said weakly. "And then, I was hurt and Eliza was trapped, watching me be turned into something worse than this." She waved at herself.

"Raviine chased you, but she didn't want to hurt either of you." Will slumped a bit. "She was a few minutes too late to help when Liza broke all of the barriers in her mind. The only true limits are the ones we set ourselves and she flew right past them to save you. She literally became a goddess. She was utterly unprepared."

"And went mad." Cathi Gata said weakly.

"Not immediately. Moments later. We didn't understand why." Will was so sad now. "She started to cry and then lashed out when you tried to help her. She cast you across the barriers again. Unguided. No one had any idea if you even came _out_ the other side. She was not lucid. We had mind healers try to help her, but she kept fleeing from them." He chuckled ruefully. "We learned _fast_ not to try and hold her. It got _painful_."

"Just seeing what she could do, yes. I can imagine." Cathi Gata said softly. "But… Why couldn't you find me?" The warden just looked at her and she shook her head. "Look, I know I don't know it all, but you lot have incredible power! You should have been able to find me in that reality." She patted her wrist where the blade Nia gave her rested. "Where I got this."

"Where you _made_ that." Will corrected her gently. "You were not there at first. None of us understood. None of us had any idea why she was so angry." He shook his head. "She had every right to be."

"Make sense!" Cathi Gata wanted to claw the words back in as soon as she barked them, but the warden just nodded.

"Are you sure you want to know?" The warden asked. "In this case, knowledge is no blessing. A worse curse, I can barely imagine and I have seen far more bad than _you_ can imagine." The Lotus was shaking her head, but the warden shook his. "After all the mistakes I and we have made, I have no right to deny her the truth, Rebekah."

"It will hurt her." The Lotus said savagely. "Eliza needs her!"

"Does Eliza know the truth?" Cathi Gata asked.

"No." The warden shook his head. "The Creator made that copy to go home with you after your memories were destroyed. After _she_ destroyed them and split into three beings. Your Eliza does not know and if I have any choice in the matter, she _won't_."

Steel would have shattered under his cold tone.

"I need to know." Cathi Gata said softly as Natah's mother swept close again, offering support.

"As you wish." Will bowed his head and when he spoke again, it was in a monotone. "We were not the only ones seeking Liza. I do not know how or why, but when Eliza became the Creator and repaired your form, before she made that warframe for you, you were pulled back into your reality. Not by her will and she lost it when she realized what had happened."

"How was me coming back a bad thing?" Cathi Gata asked. Will nodded and when he spoke, his voice was sick.

"You were pulled into the Prison."


	13. Chapter 13

**Courage**

"I was… what?"

Cathi Gata had thought herself beyond horror. She had been enslaved, Infested, arrested, and now had apaprently ticked off some of the most powerful beings she could imagine. But suddenly, her world was spinning in circles. She was-

"Stop!" Natah's mother was right there, the Sentient moving up to physically touch the reeling Tenno. Part of Cathi Gata wanted to cling to the Sentient as crazy as that was. Part of her wanted to sit and gibber. All she could do was stand there, stunned. "You are not ready to hear this, whatever it is."

"I need to know." Cathi Gata stammered, but everyone looked away as Mother pulsed bright green.

"No, Tenno." Mother replied, her tone about as soft as a diamond. "You need to _rest_. Falcon may have drained herself, but so have _you_. Your kind have limits, just as mine do. Is Tenno Cathi Gata in danger right now?" She demanded of the warden who shook his head. "Is this Eliza?"

"I don't know." The warden admitted. "I don't think so. There was a certain feel that I sensed when the Prison activated. I tried to stop it from taking Naomi and I failed. But I don't _know_." He slumped. "As I told Liza, bad things happen when I start caring for people."

"She did not give you any choice, did she?" Mother asked, her energy sweeping across Cathi Gata in waves that were oddly comforting.

"No, she didn't." The dragon in human form had a fond smile on his face now. "I want to help her. I want to help Cathi Gata and I do not know how. None of our healers could help either of them. We tried."

"How… many… kids...?" Cathi Gata managed through waves of energy that were soothing her into an unnatural slumber that felt so warm, so comforting.

"Later for that. Sleep now. Dream of peace and light." Mother commanded and despite all of her training, all of her experience, all of her self screaming at her to deny it, Cathi Gata fell into soothing green darkness comforted.

* * *

A cargo hold on a ship not built by anything human

No one moved as Mother''s energy eased Cathi Gata down to the deck beside Falcon. The Lotus laid her hand on Cath's Gata's helmet and then nodded with a smile.

"Gentle as always, Mother. She rests, poor dear." The one time guide of the Tenno sat between Falcon and Cathi Gata, her hands on both as blue energy played out from her in soothing waves.

"Can you help her?" The warden asked a bit plaintively. "I have already interfered far more than I should have. We do funny things for those we love, but this… I _cannot_ interfere further no matter how I burn to."

"I don't know." Mother was grim. "How many?"

"Four." The Lotus said sadly. "Two males, two females. All Infected and given to the Tenno. It was hushed up, the records sealed and then lost. It took some time to find them even when I started digging into Eliza's horrible past, trying to help her past it. To face her future. I am not you or Tanah, Mother. Healing was never my focus until my own kids needed me. I had to muddle through. The Orokin hid the facts well."

"Small wonder." The huge green sentient said softly, but she was not looking at the being she had brought into the universe. She was looking at Sera who had not moved at all since arriving. "You do not talk, do you?" She asked. Sera shook her head. "And Tenno Cathi Gata is why." Not a question but Sera nodded anyway. "I see."

"Mother, please..." The Lotus begged, but her mother made a static-y noise of disagreement.

"Natah, this is a horror on par with anything _we_ did." The huge green Sentient said slowly. "Small wonder this Eliza reacted so badly on realizing what had happened. Her _family_ hurt her defender!"

"Worse." The Lotus was crying softly. "Catherine didn't feel it. She was not awake for any of it like Lis was, but she knew. When she woke? On some deep, horrible level, she knew as soon as she woke. She tried to kill herself and only heroic measures from Elizabeth stopped her."

"I am sorry, Natah." Mother eased closer the slumbering Tenno.

"As bad as what Eliza's mother did to her, that was worse!" The Lotus was so angry. Tightly controlled, but so angry. "She wasn't given any choice at all! You know what it is to be a nurturer. To bear lives into the universe. Something I will never know."

The voyage to the Origin system had denied most of the Sentients who had come the ability to reproduce. One thing of many that had driven so many of them mad.

"I am seeking alternatives, Natah." Mother tried to reassure her distraught daughter. "The future is not formed yet. We can change. We must change. Even with Marlena, we need more nurturers to continue our kind, but we will _not_ replicate the mistakes of our past. There will be _no_ enthrallment."

"I am glad." The Lotus smiled, but it held both sadness and fury. "The Prison clearly deemed Catherine a viable surrogate. It did not recognize that she was Royal Guard _or_ that she was Tenno."

"It should have." The warden said from where he still knelt. "That horror was only for the Royal Family. No one else. She is not of the Royal Family." He paused as Sera shook her head. "Is she?"

"Catherine's family was a cadet branch, long detached from the family tree." The Lotus said quietly. "But she _was_ related, distantly."

"Well, damn." The warden said with feeling.

"That works." The Lotus agreed. "I usually say far worse things about such, but not in front of my Mother." Her smile turned impish as her Mother made a static noise of consternation. "I have some sense."

"Could have fooled me." Mother replied. "Natah, you know that some of what Hunhow says is true. We _have_ been corrupted by exposure to humans and Tenno. We _have_ all seen ourselves act more like them, less like ourselves since Marlena joined us."

"That is somewhat regrettable, but it is not a truly bad thing unless we let it be." The Lotus reassured her. "Humans are not all bad any more than our kind are."

"That is true." The dragon in human form continued as everyone looked at him. "I was human once. I remember being human and try hard to remember how to feel human. For all the bad they can do, they can and have done good in equal measure." The warden said into the silence that followed her words. "It helps to remember. So many realities have humans or human analogues in them that it helps a great deal in understanding them."

"And understanding is the first step towards keeping them from causing too much harm." Mother made a noise of agreement as the warden nodded. "I do not like this._ Any_ of this. But do I have a right to interfere?" Her energy reached out to touch Cathi Gata. "She is not mine, although I like what I see and feel. She is a good soul, if battered."

"You would make a heck of a warden, Sentient Mother." The warden held up both of his hands in a warding gesture as _everyone_ glared at him. "No, that is not an offer! It was a compliment."

"Don't even joke that!" The Lotus warned. "If Hunhow finds a way across the boundary, we haven't _seen_ bad yet."

"It will eventually." The dragon warned and everyone tensed. "It is only a matter of time. Once the evidence is there and it _is _despite many people trying to hide such_, _the curious or driven will always be pushed to cross, to see what they can find. To use for whatever reason or simply to see? It makes no difference. We will curb the bad as we do, but it _will_ find a way across_."_

"That is my fear." Mother said sadly. "We are few now and growing fewer despite all of my efforts. We cannot reproduce without horrific means and I… What _right_ have we to take others souls and destroy them for our own benefit?"

"Survival often trumps morals." The dragon said quietly.

"I will not allow our light to go out tarnished by such! We will fade, but we will never be evil!" Mother snapped, but stilled as an unexpected voice spoke up.

"No. You will not. _Either_ of those." Cathi Gata's voice was soft as she sat up. But it was odd. She wasn't angry. Wasn't sad. She was calm. She was also radiating in odd wavelengths. White golden wavelengths. Stalker bent to one knee, his sword point first to the floor. "I am an idiot. We are overthinking this." The Lotus shrank back, but Cathi Gata laid a hand on the blue armored woman's arm and the Lotus froze as beautiful white energy wafted over them both. "Be at peace. How did you meet Eliza, Lotus? It is important. Very important."

"Her people were looking for survivors and she refused to stay cooped up on Avalon despite her wounds." The Lotus said weakly. "I was running a small compound of human survivors. They didn't know who or what I was. I cloaked myself around them and they were grateful for the safety I provided. There were only seventeen of us and three of the survivors were hurt very badly." She made a face. "I was rather surprised when a squad of Prime warframes with Tenno that I knew nothing about came knocking at our door and I am afraid that I was rather rude."

"Oh?" Mother's tone was somewhere between incredulity and amusement. "I think I have to hear this."

"It is kind of embarrassing." The Lotus said weakly. "I was not at my best. So many of my children had done horrors and vanished, dead or asleep, I didn't know which. I was reeling and then _she_ came and I…" She sighed. "I was very rude to her."

"I bet." Cathi Gata had a smile in her voice now. "But one thing Eliza has _always_ been is a _planner_. Even as a very young Princess, she always had a plan. She had a plan for her garden, She had a plan for the idiot brat who destroyed her garden. She had a plan to save us both when we were trapped in that demoness' lair. Said plans do not always work as Mother said, but Eliza _always_ had a plan and multiple backup plans." She shook her head as the Lotus shook hers. "I bet she planned for this." She looked at _Sera_ who had taken a step back. "Didn't she?"

Everyone looked at Sera who was shaking her head savagely, but Cathi Gata swept to her feet and stepped to the silent warframe. Then Sera stilled as Cathi Gata hugged her.

"It is all right. We will figure it out. No. Don't try to break your vow. That really hurts to try." Cathi Gata shuddered in memory. Sera nodded and despite her silence she was clearly crying as Cathi Gata held her. "It is all right. I do not remember a lot, but I _do_ remember Eliza's intricate plans. Do you know her plan for this?" She asked Sera who nodded. The Nova was obviously fighting herself, but the other Tenno gave her a shake. "No! Stop! _We_ can figure it out. Be true to the Code, Tenno. Hold your vow. I am here. You are not alone."

"Eliza cannot have planned for such." The Lotus said weakly, only to pause as the warden scoffed.

"You know who we are talking about, right?" The dragon in human form asked. "There is a _reason_ we wanted to recruit her and it had nothing to do with our liking her. She is the best chess player I have ever met, bar none. She beats _AIs_. She resisted her mother's control attempts for _four years_. No one else I _know of_ could have done that. _Four years!_ If we hadn't been bound by our oaths, we would have torn that woman apart. All we could do was watch as Liza faded and then bounced back, faded and then bounced back."

"I bet you saw how angry that made her mother." Cathi Gata said dryly and chuckled as the warden smiled grimly. "At the time, I thought it was bad. That we were doing something wrong, hurting her for so long for no gain. I did what I could to ease her and then I had to obey my orders. She hated me for what I had to do, but she never… She could have hurt me." Cathi Gata mused. "She know how to hurt my energy form, I know she did. She didn't lash out at me even at her worst. I didn't understand why. But now? She was waiting. She was planning." She paused and then gasped. "No… Not _her plan!_"

"It was not her plan, no." A kind, gentle voice sounded and everything stopped as a familiar golden hued ancient looking woman stepped out of nowhere to stand in front of Cathi Gata and Sera. Eliza as the Creator! "Well reasoned, Catherine. I hope you do not mind me calling you that?"

"You can call me whatever you wish, Creator." Cathi Gata bowed her head. "I… I want to bow."

"If you do, I _will_ slap you." The ancient woman looked more like a little child as she grinned at Cathi Gata's stunned expression. "Or maybe tell you to 'stuff a sock in it'?"

Both the warden and the Lotus snickered at Cathi Gata's sputtered half snarl, half groan of disbelief.

"You, I think I like." The green Sentient had retreated, but not far and the ancient being with Eliza's face wore a smile that was wide as she turned to the Sentient. "Why are you here?"

"Humor has its place and we will need all the good spirits we can find in the very near future." The older version of Eliza said sadly. "My name as you have no doubt figured out by now, is Eliza. Well, the _short_ version is Eliza." She smirked as Cathi Gata groaned louder.

"Don't ask all of her names!" The guardswoman said with a wince as Sera held her. "Please?"

"When Natah mentioned the name, I did a fast data search for the name 'Eliza' and it came up in our data files as the youngest daughter of the last Emperor." Mother sounded odd, sort of curious, sort of wary. "We may think in numbers, but that is… Um, _how_ many names?"

"Traditionally, every member of the royal family had at least seventy plus the family name. Then a married name if they married." Eliza said with a heavy sigh. "Which is _way_ too much for humans. 'Eliza' works just fine for me."

"Because you like making people uncomfortable." Cathi Gata half spat, half groaned that as Eliza smirked again.

"Yes, I do." Eliza smirked wider as Cathi Gata groaned louder. "Isn't it grand?"

"_No!_" Cathi Gata, the Lotus and the warden all chorused but Mother was making a noise of mirth.

"I do like you." Mother swept close to Cathi Gata. "But what plan?"

Just like that, the humor faded, but the Creator woman moved to stand by Cathi Gata who held Sera.

"What was done to Catherine was a horror on par with anything my mother did to her." The Creator said sadly. "Mother never realized where those four new Tenno came from. _Many_ people worked hard to keep her from realizing. She did not remember the Prison, but we all knew what it was and the last thing we needed was _her_ gaining access to such."

"That is good." Cathi Gata said sadly. "But I am not her. I am not Catherine anymore."

"You will need to be." The Creator laid a hand on Cathi Gata' s arm. "Your Eliza never knew _your_ family's history. Her mother never guessed. The Emperor knew, which is why I believe he accepted you as her guard. Because he knew you would never forsake her even as violated as you were by Eliza's mother. I bet he knew about that, but was stymied when he tried to stop it. By then, it was too far along for anyone to stop. The Sentients had been provoked beyond all reason and the Tenno?" She looked at the Lotus and her face was sad. "You… I wish I could help."

"What will be will be." The Lotus said quietly. "But... Falcon?" She begged.

"Hunhow may be lost, but not all of you are." The Creator said with a smile that faded as she looked at the warden who bowed his head. "You owe Eliza and Rebekah an apology. Rebekah did what she had to."

"I know." The dragon sighed. "My mate erred. She saw a child in danger and reacted according to her nature. It goes against everything we _both_ feel after what _we_ endured as young. To see a child of any race walk _knowingly_ and _willing__ly_ into harm's way, into pain. It is not something we can just _allow_!"

"On that, we can agree." The Creator Eliza said with a sigh. "But there are times when the greater good must be served with evil. Even as horrible as it is when evil done to children cries havoc in our souls. What happened to Eliza was horrible. What happened to Catherine was horrible. But now? There is hope for more than just them. Catherine would have _gladly_ stepped forward to stand between Eliza and the horror that awaits her and if she _had?_ It would have doomed them both. What happened had to." She turned to Mother who hadn't moved. "Or all of them might be lost and _your_ people would be lost as well."

"What do you mean?" Mother asked carefully.

"When that little girl tore the barriers of power from her mind and became so much more and less than human, she saw _everything_." The Creator said sadly. "It drove her mad, but only for an instant. She recovered wit a bit of help form people who shall remain nameless. Then, as always, as _soon_ as she saw what happened to Catherine, to Eliza, to _you_, she got _angry_, focused and started to plan. She planned very, very fast. And then, she made me and the other Eliza that went back with Catherine."

"That is not what happened." The dragon protested. The Creator looked at him and he winced. "Was it?"

"You of _all people_ know better than to ask such questions." The Creator said with a growl. "You know I cannot answer that so _stuff a sock in it!_"

Everyone laughed as the dragon gawked at the Creator and then smiled slyly. Everyone stared as a brightly striped _sock_ appeared in his hand and then he stuffed it into his mouth! He made a comical face at her and she shook her head.

"You are just as crazy as ever, Will." Eliza took Cathi Gata's hands in her own. "What I have to ask is horrifying, my dear. I know what you will say and part of me is praying that for _once_, you will say 'no'. That you will let _me_ tear that filthy place apart. I know where it is and I can send people there who can do just that. The Horsemen would do it gladly and leave nothing to chance."

"And then what happens to Natah or her Mother's people?" Cathi Gata asked and every Sentient stilled. "You know what I will say, Eliza." She met the Creator's eyes and the ancient powerful female was crying softly. "You know."

"I do." The Creator sighed. "The plan is simple. Your Eliza will be called as soon as she wakes. The Crown has lost its connection to her and Prison will test her to see if she is viable. When it discovers she cannot bear any more children, then it will act to preserve its programmed notion of the bloodline. She will be taken as governor. It will start with Ess, then Aerie, Michelle, Jesse. It will find whichever of them it deems the most viable and take their DNA to make a new male. It may or may not kill them to do that."

"I won't let that happen." Cathi Gata said with a growl. "I have been there." The Creator nodded. "Can I find it again?"

"You won't have to." The Creator replied. "You are the only one left who the Prison will recognize. It knows you. It will pull you in as well, likely use you or a semblance of you to subdue the others, bring them to it."

"It will _try_."

All of the lights of Heaven might have gone out at the Tenno's cold, clear words. Sera just hugged her mother again.


	14. Chapter 14

**Loyal disloyalty**

"You shall not pass!"

The denial was not a shout. Not here, not now. Brianna Executor stood between the Royal Guard who blocked the way into the room where Eliza slept and Cathi Gata who stood, well, _hovered_, on her own. Everyone else had wanted to come with her, but if she had shown up with an army at her back? The Royal Guard would have fought and Brianna Executor would have likely killed everyone.

"No one else can stop it." Cathi Gata said quietly, hyperaware of the two Braton rifles, Boltor rifle and Tiberon rifle as well as the Boar shotgun and Corinth shotgun aimed at her. All were Primes as befit Royal Guard. "No one can find it. It will happen. My duty is clear. It will come for Eliza and I will do my duty. I may be cast out, lost, but I remember my duty. Eliza is in grave danger. You cannot sense it or stop it. I can."

"I won't let anything happen to her." Brianna Executor said flatly. "This is the safest place in the solar system currently. Eliza is in no danger here."

"You are wrong. It took Naomi from an extra-reality pocket the _middle_ of the Royal Summer Palace!" Cathi Gata stepped hard on her temper. "If you think even your tower has the same level of defenses as _they_ did, you are sadly mistaken. It was _designed_ by some of the first Royal Family to _take_ members of the Royal Family no matter where they ran or hid! Nothing in this system but me can _hope_ to stop it!" She slumped a little. "Hell, even a _warden_ failed to stop it."

"Cathi Gata, you are not making sense." Brianna Executor said softly. "You… You went on a mission, came back altered and now are saying that the Empress of all people is going to be...what? Brainwashed?"

"I know it doesn't make any sense." Cathi Gata said sadly. "Is Lilly available?" At that, Brianna Executor stilled. "Not Sara. _Lilly_. I _will not_ place Sara in danger." Raw iron would have melted under the Tenno's tone. "Lilly is the only one who could possibly remember. Guiscard wasn't there. No one else has lasted this long."

"Remember what?" An angry voice sounded and all eyes turned to where Lilly's Nova Prime warframe stood, a Glaive in hand, ready to throw. At this range she couldn't miss and she had been the one to cross out Cathi Gata's Royal Guard tattoo. She was still angry and Cathi Gata did not blame her in the slightest.

Instead of responding, Cathi Gata started to sing in a child like voice. And _what_ she sang!

'Rainbow Brite  
See the shining light  
Yes I'm gonna take ya to Rainbow Brite  
Starlite flies  
Right before your eyes  
And rainbow colors will cheer you up'

Everyone stared as Lilly recoiled, and then _she_ was singing! Her Glaive vanished and was she _crying _as she gave an ancient, child-like countersign_?_

'Once upon a dream I think I lived inside a fairy tale.  
When someone great was lost, when some dark void was crossed,  
And I was tossed in my sleep.

Deep within my mind, so tell what I find or what I might become,  
If I could go where the dreams come from,  
If I could go when the dreams would run wild,'

Cathi Gata bowed her head as Lilly stopped singing and the ancient Royal Guard _was crying!_The oldest of the Royal Guard and one time almost wife of the last Emperor was crying!

"It is all right, Lilly." Cathi Gata said sadly. "It is all right. I do not remember, but that is for the best." Everyone stared in shock as Lilly stepped right up to Cathi Gata, threw her arms around the hovering warframe and cried so hard that her energy wavered.

"I am sorry." Lilly bawled. "I am so, so sorry!"

"It is not your fault any more than it was mine. You were within your rights to cast me out. No one is arguing that." Cathi Gata said sadly as she wrapped her arms around Lilly. "It is all right, Lilly. Don't cry. Two of them are still alive. They serve as Tenno always have. Always will. They bring honor to their ancestors. Even _me._"

"_They had no right to take them from you!_" Lilly screamed and everybody jumped.

"Lilly, I was a _slave!_" Cathi Gata snapped right back. "_They_ had lives. Me? I only had my mistress. It was for the best and you _know_ it. If the mistress had found out about them? She would have taken them, warped them. I don't know what would have happened, but it wouldn't have been good." She gave the sobbing warframe a shake. "Lilly, calm down! Sara needs you. Lis needs you. I don't. I can handle this."

"That was _Helen_ I saw!" Lilly said weakly. "She… Oh my god! Who else?"

"Sera." Cathi Gata said sadly. "She is hoping to talk to you. Well..." She sighed. "She will have to write things down. She took an oath of silence. Apparently _both_ of them did."

"Well, _crap._" Lilly said that so fervently that everyone jerked again. "Is it the Prison?" Cathi Gata nodded. "No, not _again!_ I hoped and prayed it would be lost with everything else!"

"You have obligations, Guardswoman." Cathi Gata said heavily. "You need to ward Sara and try to figure out what to do with Lis. I have this. I can save Eliza and I must." She gave Lilly a squeeze and released the Nova.

"I almost wish I could fight an unstoppable foe." Lilly quipped weakly as she stepped back. "It might be _easier _than handling Sara_._"

"There is that, but two problems can sometimes cancel each other out. If I succeed? Talk to Eliza. She always has a plan. You know this. This is _her_ plan, not _mine_. You know who gave me the orders. You were there." Cathi Gata stepped back from Lilly and set herself into a ready stance as she faced the Royal Guards blocking her. She held no weapon. Did it matter? "Lilly? Brianna Executor? Ward the tower and its denizens. I _cannot_ allow Eliza to come to harm but I wish no harm to the non-combatants who shelter here either." She turned to the Prime warframes barring her way. "I ask this formally only the once: My duty predates yours, Royal Guard! Stand aside or I will go through you."

She still did not draw a weapon! All of the Royal Guard weapons but Lilly's were still aimed at her. Lilly was shaking her head as she moved to stand by Brianna Executor. Cathi Gata stepped slowly to the side, deliberately placing the pair _out_ of the line of fire.

"You can't win!" Brianna Executor warned but Lilly held up a hand and moved to keep her from blocking the way. "Lilly! Stop her!"

"Her duty predates all of ours." Lilly said very quietly. "And no. She _can_ win. It is _we_ who have no chance. I _remember_ what happened the _last_ time." Did she have a sad smile in her voice? "Stand down, Guards. My authority. I wish no blood shed here and you have _no_ chance against her if she remembers _any_ of it." All of the blocking force shook their heads in unison.

"They can't. They do their duty as do I. I only remember little bits and most of that second hand. My _feelings_, however? Those are clear. For the first time in a long, long time, there is no conflict within my soul. I will not kill Tenno." Cathi Gata's voice was mild, but readiness sang. "I will not even kill the monster that seeks to take our Empress from us. Not that I _can_." She admitted. "But I _can_ stop it."

"She can't! Not alone!" Brianna was all but begging but then Lilly laughed! Brianna stared at her and growled in annoyance. "What?"

"Do you want to say it or shall I? _You_ say it better." Lilly asked Cathi Gata. "I was _there_ when she came out of the portal the second time, Brianna Executor. When she came back, she appeared in the middle of the Palace, we tried to restrain her and failed miserably! If she had been hostile, I would be dead. I remember now that the block the _Emperor himself_ put in my mind is gone! I am truly sorry, Catherine!" She repeated.

"Catherine is gone." The hovering Tenno slowly held out an empty hand, but… To the side? "_Cathi_ is gone and good riddance, but this… This one last time, I _will_ _stand_ as Catherine. As I was when I was brought back to our reality and decided to help Eliza in this mad scheme that may actually have a chance to end the last vestige of horror that beset the Royal Family for so long. You _must_ remain neutral, Lilly. You must. You are Eldest. The Guard here have their orders from Jesse and Michelle. They have to try and stop me. Those are their orders and they will obey. It is what the Guard do. I swear on the Code, I will kill _none_ of them."

"She is _alone!_" Brianna protested. "How can she fight them all!"

"She is _not_ alone." Lilly said almost reverently as Cathi Gata seemed to glow with a pale blue light.

"The _Force_ is my ally and a _powerful_ ally it is." Cathi Gata intoned as a hilt appeared in mid-air and flew to land in her right hand! She spun it expertly up into a ready stance and _a long blade made of silver energy erupted from it_. Everyone stilled as the _lightsaber_ ignited! Brown armor that covered her warframe was almost inconsequential next tot hat impossible blade. "I was wrong, though Lilly. I always thought of the Jedi, but they are not right for me. Neither are the Sith."

"No, they are not." Lilly bowed formally to Cathi Gata. "Be true to the Code, _Bladeborn!_"

"I will." Cathi Gata brought the saber up in a formal salute to the Royal Guard who were staring at her in shock. A circular blade appeared in her off hand. Not quite a Tenno Glaive, but close. "_Both_ of them."

Then, she was in motion.

The Tenno were known to all as ancient masters of the even more ancient ways of Blade and Gun. Masters of the warframe bio-armor. Few today knew what the Royal Guard had been. Fewer still had any idea that any of them still existed. Tenno were ancient warriors. Most had been infected or been born infected by the Technocyte Virus and managed to retain some semblance of humanity. They were not human. They had been called soulless robots and worse by many of their detractors and there was a certain level of truth to that. After so long fighting and then sleeping in the white nothing of cryo stasis, many lost more than bit of what made them act in any way human. Then add to that the fact that few if any spoke in the field in any way that most could comprehend and it was no wonder that many who should have known better called them machines and nothing but machines. Admittedly, advanced Orokin bio technology machines, but still, _machines_.

Tenno were not machines no matter how some of them acted. The Royal Guard were definitely not machines. They thought. They planned. They adapted as fast as any Tenno, something that even the most advanced Orokin AI simply could not have done. Sentients adapted just as fast or faster, but could never match Tenno Void powers. Royal guard were better trained and equipped than most of the rest of the Tenno who had awoken at the Lotus' call to arms. Now, after so many of them had cycled clandestinely through the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno for combat experience, all of them were blooded. All of them were ready to face anything that the Origin system could throw at their Empress.

Or so everyone had _thought_.

Brianna Executor's mouth fell open as Cathi Gata _tore_ into the rank of Royal Guard. There was no other word that did her deadly ballet justice. She was, at heart, a dancer on the ground or in the air and she moved with a grace and skill that only the absolute _best_ of the Tenno could hope to emulate. Seeing her like this? It was easy to see that at one time, she had been the undisputed champion in the ranks of the Royal Guard. Before her fall. Before Eliza's mother had enslaved her.

This was not just that though. Brianna stared as all of the guard fired at her and the silver blade interposed itself, bolts of energy and physical projectiles all deflecting from the blade. Oddly. They deflected _well away_ for where Lilly stood beside the Orokin protectively. That _had_ to be intentional. Then the one time renegade was close enough and the almost Glaive in her other hand licked out to slice a Braton rifle that fell in pieces from the hands of the Wukong Prime warframe who held it. The Guard did not retreat, indeed, he drew a Prime Skana and charged, only to meet an invisible pulse of something that threw him into the wall where he shook himself, clearly stunned.

"Kieron! _Stay down!_" Lilly called to the Guard who gave himself another shake before rising to unsteady feet. How hard had he been hit? "She doesn't _want_ to kill you! Stay down!" She begged.

"They can't, Lilly. Any more than you could or I can. They have their orders and I have mine." Cathi Gata's tone was still mild as she engaged _three enemies_ at the same time! One, she bound blade to blade with her Glaive. Another, she swept the legs out from under with hers as her silver blade lashed out and took the right leg off a Trinity Prime warframe at the hip. Everyone jerked back as the stricken Guard screamed, but Cathi Gata shook her head and a pulse of something intangible dropped that warframe where it stood. The scream cut off in mid-note. "I didn't mean to strike that deep. Help her, Lilly!"

"Stop this!" Brianna Executor summoned her power to pull the clearly unconscious Trinity to her where Lilly bent to tend her. "Lilly! Stop this!"

"I can't." Lilly said sadly. "She has her orders and they have theirs. She is alive!" She called to where Cathi Gata was clearly fighting defensively. "Catherine? Oh, Catherine. End this. Please?" She begged and Cathi Gata bowed her head.

"I will." Cathi Gata jumped clear across the hall but no one dared shoot at her now. All of the hale Royal Guard had melee weapons in hand. Her Glaive vanished and she took the hilt of her silver energy blade in both hands. Then she started to sing! This time, it was different, sad, but proud as she started to walk towards the rank of Guards who were physically blocking the door to where Eliza lay. Her blade was held ready as she set herself to charge.

'In the heart of holy see  
In the home of Christianity  
The seat of power is in danger...'

She started to move faster and faster even as her voice rang out stronger and stronger.

'For the grace, for the might of our lord  
In the name of his glory  
For the faith, for the way of the sword  
Come and tell their story again'

Each step moving ever faster. In moments, she was moving faster than the fastest Volt could imagine. Every motion was perfect as she arrow-ed towards the blocking force. A silver blur. A blade honed and trained in ways that not even _Tenno_ could imagine.

"If you won't, I _will!_" Brianna snarled and then gasped as Lilly stepped right up to her, the Nova warframe taking hold of her hands. She could lash out, but Lilly wasn't hostile? "No! Lilly! Let go!"

"If you stop her, Eliza dies." Lilly said very quietly as Cathi Gata crunched into the rank of guards and warframe clad bodies flew every which way. Brianna stared at her. "She won't kill any of them."

"What? How can you be so _sure_?" Brianna snarled as she tried to free herself from the warframe's grip, but Lilly did not let her go. She could hurt or kill the Tenno, but Lilly wasn't fighting, she was restraining the Orokin gently. If anything, Lilly was sad? "Let go!"

"That song..." Both of them spun to see Healer Iriana standing at another doorway, her daughter Mishka at her beside. Both were pale as Cathi Gata slammed Royal Guard warframe after Royal Guard warframe into unconsciousness. Mishka was shaking her head, frightened. "That… '_The Last Stand_'? No! She cannot kill them!"

"She won't." Lilly declared. All there stared at her. "As for how I know she won't, Brianna Executor? She didn't kill_ me_ and _ancestors_, I gave her cause!" She actually chuckled, but there was little mirth in it. "This was planned for a very long time ago."

"What is she doing?" Iriana begged as Cathi Gata pounded the last warframe, an Ash Prime, to the floor without touching him. He tried to rise and she hit him across the helmet with the pommel of her saber as it deactivated. The crack of metal on metal was deafening and he slumped. "Cathi Gata! What are you _doing?_"

"Saving Eliza." Cathi Gata was calm as she started for the door that led to Eliza's chamber, but paused when it opened, a golden flash shone and then a white warframe stepped out of the door, his Orthos Prime in hand. The brown armored Tenno slowly shook her head. "Oh _Karl._ Even for _you_, Rachel, this is _low_. Or was this _Nikis'_ idea?"

"Cathi Gata, stand down." Rachel, the leader of the First, stepped into view behind the white Nidus warframe who stood blocking the door. "Whatever is happening, stop! We can help you!"

"No, you can't." Cathi Gata shook her head as the white warframe was joined by Rachel's Saryn Prime, a Nyx Prime and a pitch black Nekros. "None of you have any idea what is going on here, do you?"

"What I see is you fighting Tenno." Rachel said very quietly, her Reaper Prime Scythe in hand. "Stand down! Tell us what is going on!"

"Cathi Gata." The leader of her clan begged. Tiana was almost in tears. "What are you doing? You vanished and now? You are _attacking_ the Royal Guard?"

"They left me no choice." Cathi Gata said sadly as she jumped a little to one side and a badly aimed slice by a semi-conscious guard missed her. She kicked his Skana out of his hand. He collapsed and she shook her head. "They do their duty as do I. I have as little choice in this as they did. None of them are dead." She offered.

"That does not make this any better, girl." Nikis said sternly. "And you know it. I got my own arguments with Eliza, but this? No. You ain't gonna get by me. I cut you some slack cause of what you suffered, but this? This ain't right!"

"No, it isn't." Cathi Gata slowly shook her head. "I do not have time to argue with you and fighting you will likely waste just as much time that I do not have. I… I hope she planned for this." She bowed her head. "Maybe I can fight you all, maybe I can't. But even if I _do_ win by some miracle, I probably fail my duty. I will not allow that. I have no wish to fight _any_ of you, but I _will_ do my duty. I _will_ save Eliza or die trying."

Everyone went still as her silver blade flashed into life again. Nikis seemed speechless. He shook his head as he stared at the blade. No one else seemed to dare to move.

"Karl! Tiana! Rachel! Nikis! No!" Lilly was still holding onto Brianna's hands as the Orokin tried to get free. She didn't need her hands to use power, but if she cast anything, she would likely hurt Lilly. "You don't understand!"

"What the _hell_ have you _done, _girl?" Nikis sounded shocked. A first in the experiences of many present. "That weapon is not from our reality! That is _forbidden!_"

"I know." Cathi Gata said softly as she spun her blade into a ready position. Nikis had his pistols in hand, Rachel her scythe, Tiana a Lacera, and Karl his Orthos Prime. All made ready to meet her charge.

"It isn't her fault!" Everything stopped _again_ as the small form of the insane Eliza appeared beside Cathi Gata. She didn't look as crazy. Mainly sad. "It is mine."

* * *

**The code and countersign were children's cartoon themes from the 1980s. ****For the other? ****Cathi Gata was singing '****The Last Stand****' by Sabaton. There is a very good reason she chose that.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Faults**

"Elizabeth?" Cathi Gata did not lower her blade and none of the other Tenno moved. "How long?"

"Not very." The younger version of Empress Eliza said quietly. "Tenno, this does not concern you. This Tenno is not a renegade. She is obeying her oldest duty. She was always my most devoted protector." She smiled a bit wetly at Cathi Gata. "I hurt her, so badly. It was my fault. I know it. The energy went for me and you pushed me out of the way. It hit _you_ instead. _You_ went there instead of _me_." She was crying now. "If only I had-" She broke off as Cathi Gata coughed.

"Let's not start the blame game, Elizabeth." Cathi Gata said quietly, not taking looking away from her opponents. "What happened was horrible. It was no one's fault but your ancestors who came up with that horrific plan and place. I can only hope that whoever did paid for it."

"She did." The small Eliza said with a growl. "She was the first governor."

"Good." Cathi Gata shook her head. "We need to focus on the 'now'. Tenno, this is an Orokin matter. Not a Tenno matter. The Empress needs help. I am going to give it. If I have to do it over your dismembered, smoking warframes, I will." No anger. No fear. No mercy.

"Rachel, Grandmaster Nikis, stand down!" Lilly pleaded as she finally released Brianna Executor. The Orokin growled annoyance and moved away from the Royal Guard to stand next to Iriana and Mishka who stood as if petrified. "This is not what you think!"

"What I _think_ is that she is holding something that she _cannot_ be." Nikis snapped right back. "That is _forbidden!_"

"Oh, you haven't seen _anything_ yet." Lilly actually chuckled and everyone but the saber wielding Tenno and Eliza stared at her. "I was _there_. _Twenty_ Royal Guard in the _middle_ of the Royal Summer Palace versus _one_ Masterblade of the Bladeborn. We had _no chance_."

"I was told that I didn't kill anyone then either." Cathi Gata said with a shrug. "I don't remember that."

"No, you just _humiliated_ all of us." Lilly actually laughed, but there was little mirth in it. "Admittedly, I was rather insulting when you asked me what was going on. I learned my lesson. Being stuck to the ceiling was no fun. Trying to put all of our _weapons_ back together afterwards was less fun."

"Better a _weapon_ destroyed than a _life_." Cathi Gata said very quietly and Lilly nodded. "Is she all right?" She inclined her head to the unconscious Trinity Prime.

"Holly is alive. She will heal." Lilly reassured the woman with the silver blade. "Elizabeth?" She asked the smaller version of the Empress. "Are you…?" She broke off as if unsure what to ask.

"I am lucid for the moment. It won't last." The girl said sadly. "I barely remember that." Then she smiled and it was pure little girl. "Catherine is something to see, isn't she?"

"She is. From a _safe distance_." Lilly had a matching grin in her voice. It faded. "I didn't remember until she gave the code. Now I do. Elizabeth, Catherine, I… I am sorry."

"Not your fault, Lilly." Cathi Gata reassured the other. "I can save the Empress and I must. I am the only one who _can_."

"Why were you singing that song?" Mishka asked from where she stood. Cathi Gata did not react but everyone else stared at the Bard. "I queried our datafiles. That song is about a desperate last stand. You… You were not singing about the _Guard_ who blocked you, were you?"

"You do not want to know the answer to that." The small Eliza said very softly. "You truly do not, Mishka, daughter of Iriana."

"Who _are_ you?" Mishka asked, fear rising.

"My name is Elizabeth, young Tenno. Have no fear. I mean you and yours no harm." The small version of the Empress nodded at the bard. "I am… I _was_ six years old when this all happened. When Catherine saved me. When she paid the price for my family's arrogance. I had no idea what had happened to her or why. When I found out, when I… When I saw you in the Prison, Catherine, I… I lost it completely."

"It is all right, Elizabeth." Cathi Gata said with a sigh. "I can do this. I can stop it. But I have to do it now."

"You are going nowhere!" Nikis snapped. "You have violated the barriers! The wardens are going to be pissed!"

"Even you have _no idea_ how angry they are right now." Eliza said very quietly. "Grandmaster Nikis, please don't interfere. This is an Orokin matter. It does not involve any Tenno but Catherine. You do not-" She sighed as orange power flared from Nikis. "Don't do that!" She warned. "You won't like what happens!"

"Deactivate the weapon, drop it and back away from it!" Nikis snapped. Cathi Gata ignored him and everyone went still. "Did you not hear me?" He asked in a dangerous voice.

"I do not take orders from you right now, Grandmaster Nikis." Cathi Gata said in a matching voice! "I honor your sacrifices as a Grandmaster Tenno, but you do not command me right now."

"Either you drop it, or I will drop you." Nikis warned.

"You will _try_." Cathi Gata corrected him and everyone stared at her in shock. Everyone but Eliza and Lilly, both of whom sighed. No one talked like that to Nikis!

"Nikis! No!" Lilly begged. "She is obeying the _Emperor's express commands!_ She _cannot_ disobey his commands any more than _these_ could disregard the Empress'!" She waved at the fallen Guards. "You don't understand!"

"I understand what I need to." Nikis snapped. "She has violated the barrier! That cannot be borne."

"Have I?" The brown armored Tenno wielding the lightsaber asked. She wasn't asking anyone present!

"Yes but you had cause and more than cause." Will said as he stepped out of nowhere to stand beside her. Nikis actually backpedaled a step as the Lord of the Darkstorms eyed him. "You don't want to do that, Nikis. You don't. Yes, she violated the rules, but _we_ did _first_." He turned to the small Eliza who was watching him with hooded eyes. "It won't change anything, but I _am_ sorry, Liza."

"You had good reason for what you did, but it caused all kinds of problems." The small Eliza said in a tone that was far too old for such a small girl. "What it did to me, I can almost accept, but what it did to _her_… What my _family_ did to her to try and get me back?" Somehow, she was beside Cathi Gata and laid a hand on the still warframe's arm. "_That_ I cannot accept."

"My duty was and is to protect you." Cathi Gata said very quietly as she shifted her blade a bit to avoid Eliza. "It always was and it always will be. Changing realities does not change that."

"No." The small Eliza turned to Nikis who was staring at her. "This is an Orokin matter, but now that I think about it? It _does_ touch on Tenno matters. My Guard is Tenno but she is _obeying orders_." She growled that. "Mine _and_ my father's. You have no call to interfere, Grandmaster Nikis. _I_ am to blame for her violating the reality barrier. She followed _me_ into hell, _literally_. She protected me in places that I doubt even _you_ can imagine. She does not remember because I took the memories of what my family did to her and utterly destroyed them. For good reason. She is the current Empress' _only chance._"

"And you… are..." Nikis asked slowly.

"I am less and more than I was when the wardens tried to save me from my sister Naomi's fate." Eliza said quietly. "When a very brave Tenno named Catherine stepped between me and them. The Empress here has suffered and I am sorry for that, but this was needed. She is needed here, just as I am needed elsewhere. There is only _one_ being in existence _anywhere_ who might be able to stop Empress Eliza from being subsumed by the Prison of Duty. She stands in front of you. Let Catherine do her duty."

At those words, Nikis stiffened. He stared from Eliza to Cathi Gata and back. Then he looked at Will who shrugged.

"I tried to save Naomi. I failed." Will said sadly. "I cannot save Eliza. I bet she can." He nodded to Cathi Gata who still didn't move. "If not? She can lead us to it so we can tear it _apart_." The sheer hate in his voice would have scared a Grineer army into flight. "For Naomi, for Elizabeth, for Catherine! It _will_ be destroyed today!" He shook his head as Nikis set himself. "Nikis, don't!" The dragon begged! "She is doing what she must!"

"As am I." Nikis snarled. "She cannot hold that weapon here or this entire reality may destabilize."

"Who are you talking to, Nikis?" The dragon in human seeming asked quietly. "You think we have just sat on our hands since we realized it was happening again? She has our permission, hell, our _blessing!_ All of us _liked_ Naomi! We will _not_ let it happen again."

"Grandmaster, if you fight her, you will lose." Eliza said softly. "She has faced and defeated foes the likes of which even _you_ cannot imagine." She smiled a bit sadly. "Hell, she faced _me_ down more than once when I was being a stupid or silly child."

"You were a child, but you were my princess." Cathi Gata said firmly as she took a slow step forward only to pause as Nikis blocked her way. No one else seemed to dare to move. "My orders are clear. This is an Orokin matter and right now? I am Royal Guard again. Time and dishonor do not abrogate my oaths to the Royal Family. Empress Eliza is in grave danger and no one else can save her. I _will_. Move, Grandmaster. Now."

"_No._" Lilly screamed as Nikis threw orange energy, not at Cathi Gata, but at _Eliza!_ The energy _stopped_ halfway to the girl who slowly shook her head. Everyone stared at the brown armored warframe who had one hand up in a grasping motion. "Catherine! No! He didn't mean that!"

"Yes, he did." Cathi Gata might have been carved from ice as Nikis jerked, clearly fighting something that could not be seen. "He sees the world through the blinkers of his own duty. That is both good and bad. I am not so blinkered." Her grasping hand clenched and the energy faded. "I gave him the chance. You all will want to move." She warned.

"Catherine..." Eliza said weakly. "Don't. Please?"

"No one threatens you in my presence." Cathi Gata's tone was calm. A calm before a sudden storm. She looked at the warden who bowed his head and moved to stand by Lilly who was shaking her own head. Eliza bowed her head and suddenly _everyone_ but Nikis was on that side of the room with her! The Nekros stood alone and was still jerking between the door and Cathi Gata.

"Catherine… You do not have time for this." Eliza said sadly. "Nor do I." Orange energy flared. Nikis snarled as he finally broke loose from whatever held him. He aimed his pistols at the girl. "Grandmaster, _don't!_" She begged. "Please, for once in your life, have faith that others want to make things right!"

"Whatever you done to her, you lying witch, I will stop- Urk!" Nikis jerked as his pistols went flying and then he was scrabbling at his throat as Cathi Gata's hand shifted to almost a pinching motion?

"I find your lack of faith disturbing." Totally deadpan! A perfect mimicry of one of the most famous fictional villains of all time!

Everybody was suddenly laughing as Nikis fell to his knees and then _he_ was laughing. Choked laughter, but still laughter! Cathi Gata lowered her hand.

"You... did _not..._ just say that!" The black Nekros gasped out as he rose to his feet. "You… This… I..." He stammered and then he stilled as Cathi Gata deactivated her lightsaber.

"If we fight, I will fail my duty." Cathi Gata said sadly. "Please, Grandmaster. I _know_ the costs of what I am doing. I _will_ pay them. You have my word on that. Cathi Gata's. Not the slave Cathi. Not the Royal Guard Catherine, the_ Tenno __Cathi Gata_. This reality will be preserved. I swear it by Blood and by Steel,..." She reached down to a cut in her armor and spread a bit of blood that was seeping out with her fingers. "...I _will_ pay the cost once my duty is done."

"Not if I can help it." Eliza muttered in a quiet voice. The brown armored Tenno looked at her and Eliza bowed her head. "You have suffered enough for me. I will save you if I can."

"You can't." Cathi Gata stepped up to Nikis and offered her hand that did not hold the saber. "Grandmaster, I know what I am doing. I can save the Empress. Please? Let me?" She pleaded.

"I _am_ blinkered." Nikis mused. "After so long, so angry, so filled with rage, I am blinkered. I..." he slumped. "I can't. I gotta stop you. I am sorry."

"I know. So am I." Cathi Gata's extended hand became a fist and a pulse of energy threw the Nekros into the wall where he hung, struggling fruitlessly against whatever held him there. "I have to do this."

"Why?" That came from the white Nidus as he strode to stand not quite in front of the brown armored form. "Why do _you_ have to suffer again?"

"You may not remember, but you do understand honor, Karl." Cathi Gata said softly as she started for the door again, the Nidus pacing her. "If I do nothing, if I let Empress Eliza and her family suffer the fate I did, then what am I? I can stop this. I have to."

"I do not remember you, but the feelings are clear. I loved you." Karl said sadly. "I… Cathi Gata, please? Let me help?"

"You can't." The Force using Tenno made it to the door and paused as Karl physiclaly blocked it. "I mean no offense to you or _any_ Tenno, but you _can't!_ _None_ of you can face this! Not even Nikis! It is Orokin, not Tenno! It will _ignore_ you!_ All_ of you! You cannot hurt it. The warden cannot hurt it! _I_ cannot hurt it. What I _can_ do is _stop_ it."

"How?" That came from Mishka whose face was ashen. "That song... A last-" She broke off. "_NO!_" She screamed as Cathi Gata bowed her head. "Not you! _Not you!_"

"It has to be me, Mishka." Cathi Gata said sadly. "This will hurt everyone, but I have to do it. It _has_ to be me. I am the only one left besides Eliza who it will recognize. I cannot hurt it but I _can_ stop it. Karl, please? If you ever loved me, let me end on my terms?"

"'End'?" Karl asked weakly.

"I violated the reality barrier when I summoned my lightsaber to me. There is only one penalty for doing that and committing violence with such." Cathi Gata held up the deactivated weapon and shook her head. "I needed it. I might have been able to win against so many Guard without it, but it would have taken far too long." She held up her other hand and her Glaive sprouted, not a Tenno weapon. Her Bladeborn sword. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Some of my memories were stored in this. Not many. Enough. I prefer steel to energy, I always have, I always will. That didn't change when I found myself in another reality, fighting beside a group of very strange people who accepted me for what I was, even not knowing _who_ I was. Like knows like and I think you would like the Bladeborn, Karl." She shook her head. "I hope you never meet them, but I know you would like them. Honorable, but not stupid about it."

"Catherine..." The small Eliza was crying softly as Will knelt to fold her in his arms. "I am sorry!"

"I am not." Cathi Gata reached out to hug Karl and then stepped past him. He did not move, just bowed his head as she opened the door and stepped in. Golden energy sang all around her as she stepped past the door and into horror.

"No." The Empress was awake. She sat up on the bed, surrounded by frozen warframes, some of whom had weapons in hand, but all of them were frozen in place by golden energy. Energy that shimmered from every crack and cranny of the Orokin room. "Cathi? _NO! Oh God, no!_" She begged as golden energy swirled around her, stymied by her own power, but only for the moment. It would not last.

"It is all right, Eliza. As always? I do my duty." Cathi Gata said as she strode to where the Empress sat, tears starting to fall. "But this duty, I do _gladly_." She shook her head. "Naomi, you will hurt her if you keep pressing. Is that a part of the program?"

"Who are you, Tenno?" A voice came form nowhere as a dark skinned woman in a beautiful golden dress appeared nearby. She was energy, not flesh. Naomi wore a perplexed look. "You are familiar, but not."

"Leave her alone, Naomi!" Eliza croaked as her energy was pushed back. "You have hurt her _enough!_" She gasped as Cathi Gata reached out to take her hand. "No! Don't!"

"I know what I am doing, Empress." Cathi Gata reassured the stricken Empress, giving her hand a squeeze. "I won't let her do it to anyone else. Not you, not your sister or your daughters. _No one_."

"Tenno. Always with the melodramatics." Naomi said with a deep sigh. "I will not hurt her! She is needed. I am losing my faculties and she will take my place."

"Over my dead body." Cathi Gata said with a growl.

"That can be arranged." A beam of golden energy lashed out from Naomi, but Cathi Gata was in motion. She blocked the path to Eliza, drew her saber and ignited it in one fluid move. The silver blade deflected the beam harmlessly. "What is _that?_" Naomi demanded.

"Something unreal." Cathi Gata shook her head as the golden form stared at the silver blade. "Eliza, do you trust me?"

"With my life, Cathi Gata." Eliza smiled a bit wanly as Naomi's energy crushed in on her again.

"Gata?" Naomi inhaled in shock. "_Catherine Gata?_ Oh no. I apologize. I thought you were..." She broke off as Cathi Gata's saber moved and then stopped just under Eliza's chin! A twitch of her wrist and she would take the Empress' head off. "What? _NO!_"

"Your evil ends today! If I have to slay her to save her from your horror, I will!" Cathi Gata snapped as she held golden power way from her with sheer force of will. The golden tendrils besetting Eliza swept closer to the Tenno, trying to push her saber away, but they couldn't seem to touch it. "You will do what you did to me _to no one else!_"

"What I did was wrong." Naomi said slowly. "I thought… I expected Eliza to be pulled, not a female of child bearing age. The machinery took over and I… It is my fault and my responsibility. I couldn't stop it until the cycle was done!"

"I know." Cathi Gata was calm again. "But it ends today. You will do that to no more women. The Royal Family does not need the Prison now. Your sister _knows_ her duty."

"And the future?" Naomi asked, to all appearances sad. "What of that?"

"Orokin _has_ no future! It is gone!" Eliza snapped. "The crown has no hold on me any more! Talia's line is gone! _Good riddance!_" The hate in her tone could have etched steel.

"Eliza, no." Cathi Gata said softly as Naomi flared brighter and brighter. "Let me handle this. Prison governor? If you try to take her, I will kill her and then you. With this, I _can_ kill energy forms."

"Fine." Naomi shook her head as the energy faded from around Eliza but neither of the woman relaxed. "I hurt you. You need rest."

That was the only warning before golden power slammed into her from nowhere with so much force that even with all of her skill and experience, Cathi Gata could only take it for a moment before passing out.

A moment was all she _needed_. Her silver blade bit deep into Eliza's chest before falling out of the Tenno's hand as she collapsed to the floor. She saw Eliza fall back to the bed, but the Empress was still breathing as Naomi screamed in rage. And... Eliza was _smiling!_ Cathi Gata saw the blade shut down just as she blacked out.

_So far, so good..._


	16. Chapter 16

**The last stand**

Cathi Gata woke up. She lay on something comfortable, surrounded by warmth and gentleness. She did not move, did not open her eyes.

"You did not kill her." Naomi's voice was soft and worried from nearby, but Cathi Gata did not react. "Elizabeth is alive. She will recover. You did not kill her." She repeated.

"'In the heart of the holy see...'" Cathi Gata sang softly and then gasped as raw golden power flashed through her. "'In the home of-'" She cried out as the power flashed stronger but she managed to push it back but lost her place and started from the beginning again. "'In the heart of the holy see...'"

"You know I do not want to hurt you." Naomi was sad now. So sad. "You have been abused so many times. Just the residue is horrifying. I can help. Relax. It will be all right."

The power was easing into her. So gentle and so irresistible. Seeping through every cranny of Cathi Gata's mind. Even with her augmented abilities, she couldn't keep it out. She didn't try. She just kept singing. If she could keep her mind occupied, she had a chance. Not much of one, but a chance.

'There's a foe of a thousand swords  
They've been abandoned by their lords  
Their fall from grace will pave their path, to damnation'

"An as always, you Tenno have to fight even if there is no point." Naomi sounded almost in tears. "You were the best of the Guard, Catherine Gata. You will be again." She promised. "Elizabeth will remake things, give you back your children."

A stab of rage flew through Cathi Gata, but she acknowledged it and let it pass before the other could take advantage. She would lose, it was not a question of it, it was when. Even Royal Guard had limits as Eliza's mother had proven over and over. Cathi Gata had better mental defenses than most after what she had endured, but she didn't remember a lot of what had happened. From what little she knew? She was glad of that. Child or no, insane or no, the Eliza she had guarded had shown a rare kind of mercy to her guard. That was one of many things that had always drawn everyone who knew her to the youngest Imperial daughter. She could hard, cruel even if needed, but she wasn't that way normally. She was kind when she could be.

"No point?" A new voice and Cathi Gata bite back a cry as the power slammed into her again. Then it faded. The Lotus was crying! "Naomi, do you even remember? Do you remember anything but what the machine says you have to do?"

"Who are you?" Naomi demanded, fury and fear sounding equally. "You cannot be here!"

"Eliza begged me to help and I agreed to try. I came to to try and save this one. She is a good soul. One you tortured before and are again! Let her _go_." The Lotus pleaded. "She has suffered _enough!_"

Cathi Gata fought past whatever was holding her and belted out the ancient words anew.

'For the grace, for the might of our lord  
For the home of the holy  
For the faith, for the way of the sword  
Gave their lives so boldly'

She started another verse and then screamed as several kinds of power flared through her. It was reaching into her mind, touching her body in ways that she could not define but understood only too well. She knew what it was doing. The same thing Eliza's _mother_ had. Enslaving her.

"_Stop!_" The Lotus begged. "She has done _nothing_ to you!"

"Whoever and _what_ever you are, you are not welcome here!" Naomi said flatly.

"You do not remember, do you?" The Lotus asked, her voice a mix of wariness and sadness. "What Orokin did to us? To her? To _everyone? _Do you care what you did to this poor woman?"

"What happened to this one was a tragedy." Naomi's voice was even more sad now and Cathi Gata fought back a wave of empathy. The machine was trying to get into her mind any way it could. "I was not in control. I am now. I won't hurt her."

"You do not have to hurt someone to destroy them." The Lotus was just as sad as something touched Cathi Gata's mind. She shied away from it, but it wasn't golden! No, this power felt cold, metal and _blue?_ "If I know nothing else, I know that. I have seen it so many times. So many golden ways to hurt people or just make them obey!" The alien female's tone hardened. "You are going to make her obey you and when you do? She will die."

"Elizabeth clearly trusts this one and you? You feel for the Emperor's daughter. Does she feel the same? Perhaps you will serve." The other said as power built nearby. Cathi Gata kept her eyes tight shut.

"Elizabeth is _not_ the Emperor's daughter." The Lotus all but snarled that. "She is the _Empress!_ You are attacking the Empress!"

"Even if she is? Her line is faltering." Naomi sounded sad. "That must not be. I must act to ensure the line continues. I will harm none of them if they do not fight me."

"That was a lie." The Lotus snarled that and then blue energy slammed into Cathi Gata who screamed as the golden energy within her was suddenly pushed back, her body a battleground between to irresistible forces. "The woman I know as Eliza has _never_ faltered. She _will_ never falter in her duty to humanity. Not Orokin, humanity. There is a difference."

"They are the same!" Naomi snapped back. "_You_ harm this one! You would stop me from continuing. That is not allowed."

"They are not the same." The Lotus retorted. "If they were? I would be dead. I am not."

"Not yet." Naomi was ice cold and the Lotus screamed as power flared again. Cathi Gata just kept singing as agony piled atop of agony. She couldn't even bite herself. All she could do was sing.

'For the grace, for the might of our lord  
In the name of his glory  
For the faith, for the way of the sword  
Come and tell their story'

"What is this-" Naomi broke off and then she sighed. "Catherine! There is no need! Guard! Stop! I can help you!"

"_YOU HAVE KILLED YOU__R __**LAST**__ INNOCENT!_" The Lotus's scream resounded through Cathi Gata as her song finally faded. As did her resistance.

She could fight no more. Golden power shoved her eyes open and Naomi stood there clad in golden surgical scrubs, radiant gold sweeping off her in waves. Cathi Gata was hung upright in some kind of frame. The Lotus was staggering as Naomi's raw power seared into her, but she was holding fast despite being over-matched.

The room was not large and it was odd. The walls were painted in cheery colors and small colorful art decorated said walls in places. It was almost gentle, the room. Far from the brutal golden power that now poured into Cathi Gata's body. She couldn't even scream as it tore into her, taking control of everything.

"This will not be your last stand, Guard Catherine." Naomi said with a firm shake of her head. "I will not allow it!"

"You can't stop her." The Lotus wilted as power flared brighter around her. "All you do is kill! It is all you know! You are violating the spirit of your origination! She is not a member of the Royal Family! Leave her _alone!_"

"She is close enough to serve." Naomi replied. "Not as I do, but she will bring Elizabeth here. The line will continue."

"No." The Lotus was so sad as she stared at Cathi Gata who could do nothing. Not even cry. "This is her last stand. You will imprison her just as you were, Naomi. And when you do? You are doomed and so is she." She was shaking in grief. "I tried, Cathi Gata. I tried."

Something…

Someone else was singing! The same song! No, more than once voice! Four!

_In the heart of the holy see_

_In the home of Christianity_

_The seat of power is in danger!_

The golden energy was pervading every sinew now and Cathi Gata could do nothing as four very strange beings appeared nearby. The Horsemen. But…

What were they _doing?_

Naomi gasped as the Horsemen materialized fully and they all held musical instruments? Death sat at a keyboard, his hands flying over the keys. Strife was strumming a double necked guitar. War was playing the drums. Percussion of course. And Fury? The non-human female's face was as fiery as her hair as she grasped a microphone in her hand and belted out the words that Cathi Gata was struggling to sound despite her immobility. The other Horsemen joined in and all of Creation everywhere seemed to shiver at the raw power they threw into the music.

_'Then the 189_  
_In the service of heaven_  
_They're protecting the holy line_  
_It was 1527_  
_Gave their lives on the steps to heaven_  
_Thy will be done!_

_For the grace, for the might of our lord_  
_For the home of the holy_  
_For the faith, for the way of the sword_  
_Gave their lives so boldly'_

"What is this?" Naomi all but screamed over the music. "This is a holy place! You profane holiness with this filth?"

"There is nothing _holy_ about this place." The small Eliza appeared beside Fury, her face covered by a hood. "As for filth? You would know all about that now, wouldn't you, Naomi?"

"Who-?" Naomi broke off with a gasp as Eliza threw back her hood and showed her youthful face. "Eliza!" She smiled. "At last!"

"Yes, at last!" Eliza's snarl silenced the area but then the Horsemen started playing again. "Leave her alone! It is me you want!"

"She will bring the others to you." Naomi seemed all but jubilant as she stepped towards Eliza, but then she paused as she could not reach the girl looking being. "The line will continue!"

"Yes, it will, but not like this." Eliza was suddenly beside Cathi Gata. She reached out to touch the Guardswoman and gave a sob. "I wanted… Oh, Catherine, I am sorry."

The words Fury was still singing resounded in Cathi Gata's numb mind and her mouth twitched. She couldn't speak, but she could still sing, in the deepest recesses of her mind.

_For the grace, for the might of our lord_

_For the home of the holy._

"Stop that!" Naomi snapped as golden power flared around Cathi Gata again. It couldn't quite touch her.

_For the faith, for the way of the sword_

_gave OUR lives so boldly!_

The final line was different! Cathi Gata's mind was was free for the moment! She cast every ounce of her spirit, every ounce of her drive, her will to win into one shout.

**_FALCON! NOW!_**

Naomi screamed as bright orange energy slid out of Cathi Gata's body to hover in front of her protectively. It coalesced into a Sentient and not just any! Falcon was screaming the same words in rage, in pain, in grief!

_For the grace for the might of our lord! _

_For the home of the holy!_

_For the faith! For the way of the sword!_

_Come and tell their story again!_

_Come and tell the Swiss Guards' story again!_

The Sentient's power was far lesser than the Prison's but it didn't matter. Every time the Prison hit her with energy, Falcon adapted to it. She hovered there as the Horsemen played, all of them singing the same song as Cathi Gata felt her body finally fail. As she died.

"What are you doing?" Naomi demanded angrily. "Stop! You are killing her!"

"She was already dead." Eliza was stroking Cathi Gata's arm but the bound Tenno barely felt it. "She struck down her protectee. There is only one penalty for that. The Royal Guard are what they are. Something you knew once, but now? You cannot fathom it. You are not Naomi. You are a pale echo of my dear sister, no more. An echo that will fade today! Falcon… Take it and go."

"No." Came from the orange Sentient. Eliza stared at the Sentient as Falcon continued. "My sister's duty is not done. You are in danger."

"Falcon." Eliza groaned, but did not quibble as Cathi Gata felt her eyes start to shut. Golden power flared, trying to hold her, but it could not. The prison was many things, but there many others it was not.

Cathi Gata felt pride, fear, grief, loss, all of that. Then she only felt peace as the Prison's hold on her faded with her energy. Her life.

* * *

The Prison

"_No!_" The Prison screamed as the bound Tenno expired. She tried to reach Cathi Gata's body, but Falcon blocked the way. "Get out of the way, monster!"

"_You_ call _me_ a monster?" The Sentient snarled. "Hypocrite much, you nasty Orokin _thing?_"

"Falcon! _Do it!_" Eliza snapped as the Lotus rose to her feet, the energy that had been assailing her now focused on Falcon for all the good it was doing. The blue armored form was shaking her head but stood up straight as Falcon held off the Orokin tech effortlessly.

"You cannot stop the line!" The Prison snarled as the form of Naomi wavered, showing golden energy flaring this way and that.

"No? Adiinah, now! These coordinates." Falcon asked as part of one wall of the room vanished! A huge gaping area shone behind it, a large part of the Prison's machinery had just been trans-located away! The reproduction parts. "I think we just did."

The scream of rage that came from the golden form was not human in any way. Falcon did not move as the Lotus moved to stand beside her. Both looked at the utterly still Tenno and then the Lotus shook her head.

"In the year 1527, old reckoning before Orokin, a mob of deserters and traitors sacked the city of Rome." The Lotus' words should have been inaudible over the music, over Fury's rough singing, but they were clear. "It was the center of Christianity at the time, not a stronghold. It had few defenders and no chance against a mob whose commanders were either dead or forced to lead the mob there. The complete breakdown of military discipline shocked everyone, even hardened veterans of many brutal military campaigns. What happened when the mob descended on the defenseless people of Rome was a horror on par with any in human recorded history. The leader of the Catholic church, the Pope, fled before the mob, many of whom wanted to kill him in unspeakable ways. All that stood between him and the mob were a hundred and eighty nine Swiss Guards. Paid bodyguards. Many who saw them thought of them only as show troops. Good for parades and nothing more. Until that day. They had forgotten, you see. Everyone had forgotten _why_ the Pope had hired them. They were some of the best soldiers in the world from time immemorial. Everyone remembered _after_ May the Sixth, 1527. Not all of the Guard remember. No one outside their ranks cares now. But _they _**do**."

"Give back what you stole!" The Prison demanded.

"It doesn't belong to you!" The young Eliza snapped right back. "It belongs to the Royal Family. We do not need it therefore I have given the reproduction machinery to someone else who _does_ need it. This place will burn as it should have long ago."

"You cannot _do_ that!" The Prison lashed out at Eliza but the the Sentient interposed herself! Eliza reached out with a slow hand to trace Cathi Gata's still cheek. The Tenno's warframe had been burned off and her body was torn, flayed by power. The Prison was many things. It was not and never had been a healer. It couldn't take Eliza for a simple reason. She would not have survived the wound Cathi Gata had given her in the Prison.

"No?" Eliza turned to the Lotus. "Lotus? You know the Empress. What will she say?"

"It will likely be profane." The Lotus' mouth was set in a grim line. "But the gist will be, 'burn it all and salt the earth!'"

"That was and is the plan." Eliza smiled as the Prison coalesced into Naomi again and the woman's face was shocked. "How many members of my family have you killed? _How many,_ you monster?"

"It is needed. The Line will continue! Even _this_ blasphemy can be repaired!" The Prison declared as it focused on Falcon who gave a shrill cry as her energy was siphoned off, but then Eliza was at her side and the golden power faded.

"You won't have the chance. Falcon! Lotus! Go!" Eliza snarled. "My duty is done. The Horsemen will do what they do now." Indeed, the Horsemen were all rising and all were furious.

"_Heavy Metal?_ I hate you!" Fury threw the microphone at Eliza who twisted to let it fly past her.

"That is why you will win here." Eliza said mildly as the Horsemen's instruments faded and they all drew weapons. "Falcon..." She pleaded as Falcon hovered closer to her.

"My sister's duty is not done!" Falcon snapped as she focused on Cathi Gata's body. "I am not leaving you in danger here!"

"You cannot save me." Eliza moved away from the hanging Tenno and nodded to the skull faced being who held twin scythes. "I led you Horsemen here. I forced you to sing. I needed all of you angry. You see why."

"I think I do." Death was mild even as Fury snarled. "Fury is going to kill you." He warned.

"She has the right. This has been a long time coming." Eliza nodded. "For what it is worth? I do apologize for the things I have said, the things I have done. I needed you all furious with me. If I had simply asked, you wouldn't have been able to fight this thing and win. You all needed to be angry. Your reality needs you, Horsemen. The Creator there needs you. I submit to your will." She sank to her knees. Falcon pulsed, but the Lotus shook her head and the orange Sentient remained silent.

"You..." Fury stared from her to Death who shrugged. The other two Horsemen moved to either side, weapons ready. "This was all to make us _mad?_"

"It did." Eliza smiled just a bit. "I do apologize, Fury. I goaded you worse than the others. I had no right to insult your horse. My sisters needed me and I couldn't fight as I should have. And now? Catherine is dead."

"These Royal Guard are odd." Fury mused. The Lotus and Eliza nodded. "But noble in their own way."

"Call it nobility, call it foolishness, call it idiocy or bravery or what have you, they have a job. They do the job." Eliza was sad, so sad. "The Royal Guard trace their lineage back to the Swiss Guards, guards who stood against a frenzied mob in 1527. Anyone sane would have run away, but it was the job. They held the line. They were slaughtered but they did the job. The Pope escaped, for all the good it did him in the long run."

"She just held a line." Fury said very softly as she stepped to where Cathi Gata hung silent and still.

"It is what they do." Eliza choked back another sob as Fury reached out to touch the still Tenno's arm.

"I know Tenno can revive as we can. She cannot come back?" Fury asked as the Prison threw power at her, but it did not seem to touch the Nephilim.

"She struck down the Empress." Eliza said sadly. "To save Elizabeth's life, but still... Such an act will have caused a feedback loop in Catherine's energy. Even if I _could_ revive her, I cannot save her."

"Can anyone?" Fury asked.

"Perhaps the wardens can, but if so? As soon as she is revived, she will kill herself for what she did. For striking Elizabeth down. It was the only way, but... She did." Eliza was crying now. "I can't save her. My one true knight and I have failed her!"

"That I can understand." Fury said very softly. "But..." She turned to Death who was eyeing her. "This… Brother, I feel…" She slumped. "I am not sure _how_ I feel."

"I bet you are angry." Death replied and Fury had to chuckle at his dry wit.

"I am." Fury agreed. "You hurt me, goaded me, pushed me past all reason with your insults to me and Rampage's memory." She said to Eliza who nodded. "To get me, us, here to...? To save her?"

"No." Eliza grimaced through her tears. "I hoped to, but I think I always knew how this would end. I brought you here to _avenge_ her and save those who can be."

"That I can do." Fury's whip was in hand and she lashed out once, twice carefully. The arcane weapon cut cleanly through the Prison's bindings. Cathi Gata's body fell into her arms as her whip flew back to her side on its own. She stared at the fallen Tenno and then turned to offer the body to the Lotus who bowed her head and took it. "You better get out of here. It is going to get loud."

"Make it _hurt_." The Lotus growled as Falcon moved to flank her. The Prison was still trying to lash out, but could not reach the pair of Sentient forms.

"Oh, I will." Fury had her whip in hand again as she looked at Eliza who bowed her head. "Get up and get out of here, brat!" Fury snapped and Eliza's head shot up.

"What-?" Eliza all but begged and Fury snarled at her.

"Get lost!" Fury was striding towards the prison's golden form and her brothers moved to flank her. "I will be around to 'explain' a few to things to you. I _hate_ Heavy Metal! But for right now? I have to kill something." She shook her head as her brothers moved to flank her. "_We_ have to kill something."

"You cannot destroy the future of Orokin!" The Prison declared.

"Wanna _bet?_" All four Horsemen of the Apocalypse chorused as they charged.

Eliza stared at them even as the Lotus' energy swept them away from the horror.


	17. Chapter 17

**cum saevit et imperatrix**

**(When an Empress rages)**

"_**NO!**_"

The scream from the bed silenced everything as the Tenno known as Cathi Gata fell off it. No one had dared touch her while golden energy had bound her to Eliza, but then the energy had vanished and the Tenno had fallen to lie still. Nothing alive was so utterly still. Her saber rolled to one wall and everyone shied away from the weapon. Will moved to stand over it, but did not touch it.

"Empress! Remain still!" Brianna Executor commanded as her drones worked feverishly to heal the horrific wound that traced the Empress body from her left shoulder halfway down her front. It was barely visible, the energy blade had cut cleanly and in a very small area, but it had bit deep. "Don't make me restrain you!"

"_N__ot her__!_" Eliza screamed again as two Royal Guard warframes took careful hold of her arms and she was going nowhere. "Not Cathi! Not her! Me! Take me, Naomi! NOT HER!"

"She cannot hear you." The Lotus said as she reappeared nearby, a small orange sentient hovered beside her. The Lotus was crying and Falcon was making noises of grief. "She made her choice, Eliza."

"_WHAT CHOICE?_" Eliza screamed as she fought vainly to free herself. "What choice do _any_ of the Guard have but to serve? _To die!_ For me!"

"If you do not calm down, I will sedate you!" Brianna Executor snapped, her own fury fanned almost to the breaking point. "A centimeter to the right and this would have killed you!"

"My guard hit what she aimed at." Eliza's voice turned cold and commanding. "Lilly. Front and center!"

"Empress… I..." A path was made from the door and Lilly's Nova warframe was all but shaking in grief as she stepped to the Empress' bedside. "I… I didn't remember… He blocked my memories! I didn't remember!"

"Remember what?" Eliza snapped, all pretense of calm fading in her need to lash out at something. Lilly looked away, but Eliza was having none of it. "Guardswoman, if you do not answer me, I am going to get out of this bed and _kick your ass!_" Brianna groaned softly but focused on her work.

"That is your right. If you wish, I will not resist." Lilly said quietly. "But if I _do_ tell you, you will be even more upset than you are." Eliza stared at her and Lilly bowed her head. "Your father placed a block on several of my memories. Memories that pertained to her." She slowly knelt down beside the still form on the floor. "She was the best of us, before she was so twisted. And even then, she was better than most. I had no choice but to cast her out, but she was always one of us. Please, do not ask this of me. Not now. Please?" She begged the Empress.

"Wait..." Eliza paled. "Naomi _knew_ Cathi... She… _OH MY GOD!_" She screamed in both rage and pain as realization dawned.

"Empress, please! Let the healer work!" Lilly knelt by the bedside and took the Empress' slack hand in her own. "What is done is done. We cannot change the past."

"_You_ can't." Eliza was not looking at Lilly. She was eyeing the dragon in human form who stared at her, nonplussed.

"Liza, I am truly sorry for what has happened, but don't even think about it!" The dragon was calm, but wary. "You have no idea the repercussions!"

"_I_ don't?" Eliza asked very softly and everyone in the room stiffened as the iron core of her will shone through her words. Angry Empress was never a good thing. Now? Worse. "You forget who you speak to, warden."

"Liza, she made her choice a long time ago." The dragon tried again. "I know you are angry. Heaven knows, you have a right to it. Angry with me, with your ancestors who created that mess, with everyone. But you _cannot_ act out. Not now." He shook his head. "Will you dishonor her sacrifice?"

"Do _not_ speak to me of dishonor, warden." Eliza's tone was hard and everyone stared from her to the dragon and back. "You knew. I know you have many ways of telling future events. You _knew_ what would happen here and you did _nothing_. I know why. You could have saved her, but it did not serve your ends, so you let my knight die. So be it. I will never work with you again and I will deny my retainers the right to be enslaved by you!."

"Liza!" The warden was shaking his head as every stared at him. "I get that you are angry, but don't do anything rash!"

"Whatever you may think, warden..." Eliza said with a growl that was pure angry predator. "I am not your property. I am not a piece of your hoard. That little girl who you met so long ago is _dead_. Killed by her mother's lusts and greed. Killed by her father's apathy. Killed by _your_ need for a replacement for the one you lost! That little girl was looking for safety or sanity in a world gone mad and she found nothing but pain with you and yours."

"Empress..." Lilly begged as Eliza sat up. Brianna stared as the wound she had been tending opened again, wider but when she tried to restrain the Empress, her power did nothing! The warframes tried to hold her and could not get a grip on her as Eliza slid to her feet beside the bed. Lilly reached for her, but golden energy rebuffed her. "No."

"You pulled me and Catherine out of our reality." Eliza said very quietly as she took a faltering step towards the dragon. Many people tried to get between them, but they couldn't. Somehow, she was keeping them away. "You are responsible. If the Prison had taken me, I wouldn't have suffered what my mother did. I am sure it would have taken me from the Tenno who I took refuge with… Except that _someone_ taught me how to walk in places I shouldn't. 'Because I had lost my protector', you said. Another lie. I _never_ lost her. She was _always_ my protector. Just like Naomi was yours."

"Naomi was my friend." The dragon did not move as Eliza advanced on him.

"Liar." Eliza's word was very quiet but everyone jerked as if she had screamed. "I know what the Link is. You cannot lie to me. You also cannot hold me with that, so get the hell out of my reality before I kick you out."

"Liza, I get that you are grieving-" Whatever else the dragon was going to say was cut off when Eliza hit him. What she did was odd. It wasn't a teleport. It wasn't a phase jump. It wasn't a wormhole. One moment, she was halfway to where he stood, her fists clenching in rage, the next, she had _hit him_. She hit him in the throat with a full strength strike. She had not crossed the intervening distance, she had simply _been_ there! Anything human would have been killed by such a strike. _He_ was just shocked. He stared at her, hands up to ward just a hair too late.

"Stop talking and get the hell out of our reality! You are not welcome here." Eliza snapped. "I will not buy anything that you sell now. If I see your mate, I will hurt her. _Neither_ of you had any right to use Cathi Gata this way. Me, yes. I asked for your help when I realized the Prison was activating and you promised it so my soul would have been be your slave for eternity. Except… You lied of course." She shook her head. "Par for the course when dealing with lesser beings, right?"

"It is not like that, Liza." The dragon backed away, his hands up to ward.

"Oh?" Eliza asked as she knelt down by Cathi Gata's lightsaber, looking at it instead of the dragon. Everyone was backing away as she scrutinized it. "I wondered, you know. I wondered how the _other_ me's realized Cathi was dying."

"'Other'?" Lilly asked weakly.

"I have access to all the records my father left, Lilly. I didn't remember what Naomi did to Cathi Gata until you jogged my memory." Eliza said quietly. "I saw what she did at the palace." She smiled grimly as Lilly choked. "You _were_ very insulting."

"I… Yes, I was." Lilly bowed her head. "She um... She made an impression."

"That she did. When you hit even Orokin walls with enough warframes, they do tend to leave marks. We all wondered where that dent in the ceiling had come from." Eliza smiled wider as Lilly shook her head. The expression was more 'shark' than 'friendly'. "I know what you are trying to protect me from, Lilly, but that is the _wrong_ threat."

"What?" Lilly demanded along with the other Guards.

"I have talked with my counterparts a time or two." Eliza said very quietly. "They were worried about me. Especially after my powers manifested. They helped." She glared at the warden who had frozen in place. "Go. Away."

"Liza..." The dragon tried again.

"Liza is dead." The Empress said flatly as she turned back to stare at the lightsaber. "You killed her. Go away."

"Nikis! Stop her!" The warden tried again, but the Nekros who stood near one wall slowly shook his head.

"I ain't got the right." Nikis said very softly as he took a step towards Eliza, but he wasn't hostile. If anything? He was bemused. "She ain't stepping on my duty. It wasn't my job to stop Cathi Gata from doing what she did. I saw that weapon and I freaked. I apologize, Empress." He bowed to Eliza!

"I am about to step on your duty, Grandmaster of the Dead. There is balance between life and death for a reason." Eliza was still so very quiet. "Stop me if you must, but I will not let _anyone_ enslave Cathi again!" She ignored the blood that fell down her front. It wasn't a lot.

"You are bleeding." Nikis said as he moved to her side, but he stood between her and the dragon.

"I will live." Eliza did not quite snarl that. "No matter what I may wish, my duty comes first. But this..." She nodded to where Cathi Gata lay. "This is _wrong!_"

"Yeah." Nikis allowed. "Yeah, it is. What do you need?"

"I need to talk to Nyx and Atlas." Eliza said in a tiny voice as she reached for Cathi Gata's saber.

"Liza! No!" Will started forward, but every single warframe in the room moved to stand between him and her. "I was trying to help!"

"Like Raviine did." Eliza's words were mild, but the dragon recoiled anyway. "She was so nice, but so insistent that I stay. A cage made of velvet is _still_ a cage. A prison just like the one Cathi just saved me from! I remember."

"That is not possible!" Will said and then blanched.

"Yeah." Eliza smiled wider and even a shark might have gotten goosebumps! "You wiped the memories. Too bad my _other_ selves backed them up before you did that. 'Trust not in the word of dragons' and all of that." The dragon stared at her, horror rising and she nodded. "I remember. And you _are leaving._"

That was not a suggestion. Every member of the Royal Guard had weapons in hand now. For all the good they might do against a warden of reality!

"Eliza..." Raviine appeared standing near one wall and everything stopped as Eliza grasped the saber and it ignited! But where Cathi Gata's blade had been silver to denote her walking a neutral path between good and evil, this one was the color of blood! Of rage. Of hate.

Everyone moved aside as Eliza rose, the blade in her hand aimed at the female dragon who froze.

"My name is _Elizabeth_ and _you_ are my _enemy_." Eliza's hate roiled off her in waves. "I remember. I went to that sleazy Vulgrim despite Cathi's misgivings. He tried to warn me that the information I bought from him was suspect, but I had no idea why. Then she boasted as she tormented me, Lilith did." She took a step towards the female dragon who backed up only to hit the wall. "She boasted of _who_ told her I was coming! That I would become her slave, that _Cathi_ would join _you!_"

"Demons lie." Raviine tried but Eliza was having none of it.

"Yes, they do." The Empress agreed and her smile now? Oh god, there were no words! "Except when crippled and being held over a pit filled with ravenous imps by a furious warframe commanded by a furious Creator. _Then_, they_ don't_ lie." She shook her head. "Grandmaster Nikis? I need to talk to them."

"You need to put that down." Nikis said slowly.

"If I do, they will take Cathi's soul." Eliza replied and everything stopped. "I won't allow that."

"She is dishonored here." Raviine said slowly. "She is lost here."

"She has family here." Eliza retorted. "Family _you_ worked hard to keep her from remembering. After all, Rule Two doesn't apply if no one knows they are kin, does it?"

"We would have protected her and them!" Raviine was getting angry now, but the Empress might have been carved from ice.

"Bullshit." Eliza scoffed. "Make me forget. Make Cathi forget, make _them_ silent. It all good. Except for one little tiny thing. One being remembered. One being took steps." She slowly shook her head. "It is always the little things. There will be no violence here unless she starts it." That was a command.

"Empress..." Nikis warned as both of the dragons shifted a bit. "This isn't making a lot of sense."

"You don't have all of the information." Eliza replied, not looking away from the female dragon who was flexing her fingers as if a staff was in them. "You are smart enough not to _want_ it all."

"And?" Nikis asked.

"Four new Tenno appeared out of nowhere and were added to the fold, before the Sentients." Eliza said very quietly. "Before the War. You paid little attention. You had your own duty, as horrific as it was. But some _did_. Their names were Franklin, Kano, Helen and Sera. At least my Father and the advisor he trusted let Cathi name them." She shook her head. "No one asked when the one who took them from the palace to the Tenno Citadel said they were his family. That they had lost their parents to the Virus and needed a new home. The Tenno took them in, were kind to them. No one inquired. No one was that stupid until _I_ was." She made a face of pure self loathing.

"Liza, no." Will breathed. "It wasn't like that."

"She was a slave, but she was their _mother_." Eliza snapped. "I had no idea why they were always so nice to me!" She was crying softly now. "Why they deferred to me! Why they called me 'Aunt Eliza'! I didn't know them! I was twelve when I met them! Broken and hurting in so many ways! They were so kind to me when they didn't need to be after what my father did to them, to their mother! At another's behest. _You_ tore that kind and gentle family apart! You!" She leveled the red energy blade at Raviine who froze. "Tell them." The dragon was shaking her head but Eliza's rage would not be denied. "Tell these present why you silenced them! All four of them! Two took oaths, two would not and vanished from our reality!"

"_What?_" That came from many, including the male dragon who was shaking his head. "Liza… I..."

"This has been a long time coming." Eliza said with a growl as she stalked towards the female dragon who had her staff in hand now. "Cathi's kids were blameless. They were just children! You had no right."

"You cannot beat me." Raviine said as Eliza shifted to a ready stance.

"Beat you? No. I can't match you power for power. Then again..." Eliza agreed, but again, her smile was an evil thing. "I don't _have _to." She bowed her head and she she spoke it as in a language that none present understood but the dragons, both of whom recoiled. [Loyalty. Duty. Honor. Respect. Vigilance. Prowess. Humility. Courtesy. Valor. Service. Sacrifice.] She raised her hear and her eyes were glowing the same red as her weapon! "Heard and witnessed."

"Heard and witnessed." The black haired form of Nia Korr stepped out of nowhere to stand by Eliza. Her own sword was in hand as she moved to flank the furious Empress. Both of the dragons recoiled again as the Bladeborn drew a lightsaber in her off hand and it ignited a spray of green energy. "Hello, Elizabeth." The Grandmaster of the Bladeborn seemed calm, but her green eyes were flashing. The calm was a facade. She was just as angry as Eliza was. "You have found me a good fight this time."

"Nia." Eliza replied the same way. "They think to hold Cathi. Over my dead body."

"Mine too." Nia agreed as she faced both of the wardens who seemed shell shocked. "What it is it going be, wyrms? Do you surrender my battlesister or do we fight? Please say fight. Please?" She all but begged. "I haven't had a decent fight since Malgus tried Si'to'lon space last." She stretched just a little to settle her silver armor. It left no holes in her guard.

"Liza? What have you _done?_" Will stared at Nia whose face was grim.

"Trust not in the promises of man." Eliza quoted very quietly. "Be he royal or common, human or other, mortals are fallible. We make mistakes. Taking Cathi the way she did was a mistake." Raviine slowly shook her head.

"What?" Will stared from Eliza to his mate and back. "I don't understand."

"It might help if you knew who created the prison in the first place." Nia said evenly. "Not to safeguard the Orokin Royal Family line, although that was what it eventually became. But for another purpose entirely."

"I do not _understand_." Will said softly. He did not draw a weapon.

"Lotus?" Eliza asked the frozen blue armored form. "What was the name of the being who created the Prison of Duty for Talia's great grandson to test aspirants for a certain role within the Royal Family?" The Lotus stared at her and then hissed. "Yes, the file is sealed. Here is the code: 'Dragon'."

Everyone stare as the Lotus recoiled and then she too became angry.

"You _lying_ _bitch!_" The Lotus had her Dex Dakra swords in hand as she move to stand beside the Bladeborn and the Empress. "You stood there and _lied_ to me! You lied to _Hayden! _You lied to _everyone!_"

"Liza?" Will asked when no one else dared to move. "What is going on?"

"The woman who prodded my ancestor into creating the Prison of Duty to make a specific kind of super soldier, a 'warden'?" At Eliza's cold words, more than one of the surrounding beings hissed. "Her name was _Raviine_."

"Damn." The female dragon sighed and then the world shifted. Eliza stood on front of the dragon alone on a featureless red plain. Raviine hefted her staff and shook her head. "It wasn't like that. I won't hurt her. She will be loved."

"Like a _pet_." Eliza spat those words at the dragon who was unmoved.

"No." The dragon shook her head. "The Link is not slavery, Elizabeth. Our enemies are slavers. We will give her the choice!"

"Some choice." Eliza snarled. "Live or die. She would rather die that be a puppet to anyone again."

"Every one of us is a puppet in some way, Elizabeth." The dragon held out an empty hand. "Give me the saber."

"Come and get it." The saber ignited in Eliza's hand again. "For the first time, I can repay some of the monumental debt I owe her."

"You cannot beat me." The dragon said quietly. "Not alone."

"Then it is a good thing she is _not_ alone, isn't it?" The dragon had a moment to gawk as a horde of _demons_ appeared and charged her. The speaker landed lightly beside Eliza and shook her horned head. "Not that I want anything to do with 'good'. This _really_ rankles."

"Would you prefer to lose another wing?" Eliza smirked at Lilith who shuddered. "Or puppies?"

"_NO!_" Lilith all but ran at the embattled dragon. "_Anything_ but that!"

"Figured."


	18. Chapter 18

**The greatest power of all**

Eliza watched with no small amusement as the dragon that she so hated at the moment was literally swarmed by a horde of smaller forms. She did not remember the dragon, but the records she had found hidden away in deep recesses of the Emperor's private datafiles were clear. This was the being who had kidnapped her as a child, had taken her and Catherine to another place in an attempt to get Elizabeth to work for the-

"Liza." The Empress went still as the being she knew as Will appeared nearby. He had his hands up in a warding gesture as she raised Cathi Gata's lightsaber. "Liza! _Please!_ Yes, we screwed up! I know it! We _all_ know it!"

"You lied to me." Eliza did not move, did not lower her guard.

"Nothing I said was false. I didn't tell you the whole truth, but that is pretty much the same thing." The dragon admitted. "A lie by omission is still a lie. I was and am grieving for Naomi. She was my friend. I did not enslave her!"

"I don't believe you." The Empress said flatly.

"I don't blame you." The dragon slumped a bit as the battle nearby reached a fever pitch. The other dragon shifted to her true form, scaled legs and tail lashing out. For every demonic form she slew, another took its place. Lilith was darting in and out of the fray, a whip of fire lashing out. She didn't seem able to hurt the warden, but that had to sting. "What she did was wrong."

"Don't tell me you didn't know." Eliza's growl was almost as loud as the screams from the battle.

"I did." Will sighed. "You were just a kid and I knew it would come for you after you walked through my wards! None of your family had any idea what you were capable of! None! Liza, I messed up." He shook his head as she menaced him with the lightsaber. "Liza, you cannot kill me with that, but… if you must… you have earned the right to hurt me."

"Go away!" Eliza snarled as the dragon knelt in front of her! "You will just lie to me again!"

"I have been very careful not to lie to you. Raviine told you untruths and half truths. I never did. I didn't say some things, but I never _lied_ to you." Will said sadly. "After all of the abuses, all of the horror you went through, you are still hurting. If hurting me or Raviine brings you some small measure of peace, then do it. We accept that we fucked up. That we cost your guard her life. We cannot bring her back."

"I can." Eliza snarled and turned her back on the kneeling dragon, only to pause as Nia Korr appeared nearby. The Bladeborn's eyes widened and then she shook her head.

"Elizabeth." The Bladeborn master said quietly. "Deactivate the saber."

"If I do, Cathi will die." Eliza's grip tightened on the lightsaber.

"Catherine was dead the moment she struck you with intent. It was the only way to save you, so as always, she did her duty. She will be remembered." Nia said softly. "Elizabeth, please? I know you don't want to hear it, but you cannot save her."

"I can!" The Empress declared. "And I _will!_"

"Elizabeth, you are teetering on the edge of madness." Nia said very quietly. "You have seen what happened. What your younger self became. Even the you with the power of the Creator in that alternate reality cannot do some things. It is simply not possible."

"It is." Eliza was shaking in rage as Nia sighed and shook her head.

"Eliza." The Lotus appeared nearby, but not in human form. Her Sentient form was huge, twice the size of a human and only vaguely humanoid. Her unmasked face shone with blue energy and an inhuman sadness. "What was it you told me, the day we met?"

"Go! Away!" Eliza all but screamed that! "I can save her! I _must_ save her!"

"My followers were all aiming their makeshift weapons at the Royal Guard. It wasn't going to end well. No one trusted Tenno after the massacres." The Lotus was sad, so sad. "So many killed. The controls your family tried to install jammed my signals. I couldn't stop them and truth be told? I don't think I wanted to. What your family did drove many of my children insane. Trying to enslave Tenno was and is a _bad_ idea. But you? You came. You were still _bleeding_ and you came and you swore to me! Eliza, what did you tell me?"

"_I HAVE TO SAVE HER!_" Eliza screamed.

"You can't." The Lotus moved closer to her despite the red energy blade hissing between them. "What did you tell me, Eliza? What did you tell me when I told you what happened? When you saw through my cloak and saw me for what I truly am. What did you _swear_ to me when I told you the truth of what happened?"

"I..." Eliza's hands were shaking and the saber wobbled but the Lotus was there, taking Eliza's hands in her own as Eliza started to cry. "I don't _want_ to enslave her! I am not my mother! I want to _save_ her!"

"What did you swear?" The Lotus pulled Eliza close despite the energy blade hissing against her armored hide. "Elizabeth? What did you swear?"

"I swore never to bind Tenno. By their will or against their will." Eliza said in a monotone. "I… They _are!_ The Royal Guard _are_ bound! I have to free them!"

"They chose the role, Elizabeth." The Lotus gave her a hug. "Who are we to deny them choice? I won't do that. It would likely hurt." She made a face and Elizabeth choked on a laugh, staring at the saber in her hand. She shifted it away from the Lotus who smiled gratitude. "Elizabeth, you are hurting her. Let her go. Please?"

"I..." Elizabeth was sobbing hard as she opened her hand and the saber fell out to crash to the ground. On impact, it shattered like cheap glass. Elizabeth fell to her knees right out of the Lotus' arms as Cathi Gata's still form appeared where the saber had broken. The guard wasn't breathing. "This isn't right, Rebekah!"

"No, it is not." The Lotus bent down to kneel beside Eliza. "What has been done cannot be undone, Eliza. Your power is incredible but you know your own limits. What were you going to do?" She asked, an appendage reached out to lay against Eliza's back. "I know you had a plan. You always do."

"The crown is only a symbol now." Eliza said softly. "If I had given it up before she struck me down, it wouldn't have been as bad. Bad, to be sure, but not a death sentence."

"You wouldn't have made Ess take it!" The Lotus said sternly and Eliza shook her head. "Then who? Michelle?"

"Michelle has been pushing me to let some of the burden onto her." Eliza nodded and tears fell freely. "She thinks I do too much."

"You do." Came from Will, Nia and the Lotus.

"My family did this!" Eliza snapped, but her heart wasn't in it as she tried to touch her still guard and her hand passed right through Cathi Gata's form. She wilted in grief. "My Father, my Mother, my siblings! It was all about power! All of it! I don't want power! I never wanted power! All I ever wanted to be was an artist, but then… things happened."

"Yeah." The Lotus hugged her gently. "I know the feeling." She sighed. "That is not why you want her back."

"It is!" Eliza snarled, sidling away from the Sentient form only to freeze as Nia knelt on her other side. The Bladeborn did not speak, simply pulled Eliza into a hug as the Empress started to cry again.

"You feel safe with her." The Lotus said quietly. "You always have. You treasure the feeling of safety she gives you. The peace she gives you." Eliza bowed her head. "She never guessed, dd she?"

"Such wasn't done." Eliza said sadly. "I was Empress! I had to be strong! I was the last of my family! I couldn't love her!"

"Eliza?" A stunned voice had Eliza jerking upright. She stared at where _four_ warframes stood. One was Cathi Gata in her hovering form The other three stood silent. One was an Atlas. Another a Nyx. The third _wasn't_ a warframe and Hayden Tenno's eyes were sad as he looked from Cathi Gata to Eliza and back. Eliza stared down at the energy form in front of her as it vanished. Then she smiled a bit wetly.

The battle had vanished as a waft of a dream. Which stood to reason. This was all in the mind. Eliza's mind.

"Always with the tricks." Eliza was crying hard now. "Sneaky Tenno!"

"I struck you." Cathi Gata said sadly. "I knew I would die for that." She shook her head. "You shouldn't have brought me back!" She snapped at the Tenno.

"We didn't." Hayden Tenno said mildly. Both Eliza and Cathi Gata stared at him. "Don't ask." He warned. He was glaring at the warden who was also staring at Cathi Gata in shock. "There are things that even the wardens step very carefully around."

"I don't-" Eliza was shaking her head as Cathi Gata stepped to her and knelt, the Lotus and Nia making way for her. "This isn't possible! You _died!_"

"I did." Cathi Gata glared at Nia who looked innocent. Tried to. "And _where_ in the Bladeborn Code does _that_ fall?"

"[Loyalty]." Nia replied with a small, sad smile. "Sister, you were one of the best of us. When Elizabeth found you, you were still broken and hurting. She did what she could and with Ona's help, you recovered. The moment you did, you asked to be released from your vows, but Elizabeth refused to let you. She said and I quote 'She needs to be of you' and this is why. You are a knight, Catherine. Any knight fights better with a cause."

"What cause?" Cathi Gata begged as Eliza threw her arms around the warframe and started to cry harder.

"You know the cause." Nia smiled as she laid a hand on Cathi Gata's shoulder. "There is a reason the Sith abhor love. It is far more powerful than the Dark Side of the Force. It is not as flashy normally, but it can do far more in far less time than ever the most evil and heinous act of cruelty." She shook her head. "The Jedi are just as hindered in their own way, if slightly less horrific in their methods. We Bladeborn try hard not to be so willfully blind."

"Blind to what?" Cathi Gata demanded. "Yes, I love Eliza and she loves me, but..." She broke off as the Lotus touched her. "Lotus?"

"But _nothing_." The Lotus declared. "I rescued the Zarimon children because they cried out for help and for the first time in my existence I realized what human love truly was. My Mother knew and she tried to explain, but it made little sense to most of us. That day, I learned. I loved them from the moment I saw them. I fought for them, killed for them, bled for them and I would do it again."

"So?" Cathi Gata demanded.

"Let me." Will said softly as all off the others stared at one another. "Liza hates me. She has cause. They won't trust but it will make them both think. I was trying to help and like always, I mess things up. I am no good with relationships. I have always been better at breaking things. Raviine had to hit me fairly hard to get me to understand. I won't hit either of them."

"You _better_ not." The Lotus and Nia chorused and looked at one another.

"Catherine, I knew the moment I saw you that you loved Liza and she loved you." The dragon said very quietly. "No one else I know of, anywhere, would have followed her through so many places beautiful and horrible. Not even one of my kind. Yes, you were her guard, but you did not stop! _Nothing_ stopped you until Lilith imprisoned her. Hurt her so badly and made you keep her alive to get you to stop fighting! That is the _only_ thing that stopped you! Saving her from corruption."

"She was my princess." Cathi Gata pleaded as Eliza sobbed.

"I have been a bodyguard, Catherine. What you did was far beyond any of your kind's capabilities." The dragon shook his head. "'No greater love...'" He said sadly. "We try and try and try, but there are limits to what we can do. Raviine and I came when the Royal Family tried to break the barrier. The influx of Pokemon, Faerie and super siayans was daunting to say the least. We beat it back, sealed the breach and warned the Royal Family not to do that again. We kept a wary watch on the family after that, because frankly? Only an idiot believes the word of a King or Emperor. They will always find ways around any limitation to their power. Finding Naomi was a miracle and a horror but in the end? I think this will work out. If you let it. Both of you need to break free of what holds you. The worst of prisons are not ones made of fantastical super science, iron bars or anything physical or mystical. They are the ones we build in our own minds, brick by lousy stinking brick."

"Make! Sense!" Cathi Gata snapped, but the Nyx stepped forward.

"Be calm, Catherine. For that is your name. I see your mind." The Nyx... No, _NYX!_ The First said very quietly. "It is beautiful. Serene and at the same time, fury lurks, restrained by duty and by love. Elizabeth's mind is a jagged torrent of horrors, but when she is with you, it is soothed. You are good for her and she is good for you. Talk to her."

"I can't do that!" Cathi Gata stilled. "I am her _guard!_"

"Not anymore. And technically, you were not _her_ guard when you struck her down, since the _Princess_ is not the the _Empress_. So... The rules do not technically apply." That was the _First Atlas_ and Cathi Gata stammered as he bent down to kneel in front of her. The First Commander of the Royal Guard! Was he _chuckling?_ "Odd, to say the least, but I cannot say I am surprised. Our kind do not do things in any normal way, do we?" A chorus of 'who us?' came from all of the other Tenno.

"Sir… I..." Cathi Gata stammered as Eliza hugged her tighter. "I _can't! _I hurt her, so badly! I drugged her! I netted her! I dragged her back for her mother to hurt! I-" She trailed off as Eliza hugged her again. "I hurt her." She said in a tiny voice. "I-"

"And then you let her go." Atlas interrupted and Cathi Gata stilled. "I have been talking with a lot of different people, trying to make sense of this mess. The Guard are conflicted by you. You knew she wanted to die. You knew she was begging for it in her dreams. You knew. You watched as she fell apart and bounced back. Every single time. And do you know why?" Cathi Gata shook her head. "Because you needed her."

"Me?" Cathi Gata demanded. "That makes no sense!"

"Love doesn't make sense." Nia Korr said sternly. "Don't try and force love to make sense, Catherine. It doesn't."

"She loved you from the moment you walked into her view and tried to get that arrogant bully to back off." Will said softly. His hand rose but then fell, as if her wanted to comfort Elizabeth, but didn't dare touch her. "You are poetry in motion and she has always had an eye for beautiful things. No matter how hard her mother tried, the evil witch could never destroy Liza's love for beauty."

"I am a weapon." Cathi Gata pleaded. "Just a killing machine! There is no beauty in that!"

"You are wrong." Hayden Tenno said quietly. "You do not have to like what a weapon does to admire what it looks like. Edged weapons and firearms have one basic purpose, but there is beauty in many of them. Efficiency and beauty." He shook his head. "This is a private conversation. The rest of us should butt out."

"For what it is worth? I _am_ sorry, Liza." Will said as he vanished.

"I struck Elizabeth down!" Cathi Gata pleaded. "I cannot go back!"

"Not as you were, no." Atlas laid a massive hand on the shuddering Tenno's shoulder. "But for what it is worth to me? You make me proud, Tenno." He patted her shoulder and vanished.

"The... The kids?" Cathi Gata said weakly. "What do I say? The boys are gone."

"What is this?" Nia Korr demanded and all of the remaining people stiffened. "What 'kids'?"

"The Prison of Duty took Cathi instead of me." Elizabeth said through her tears. "It realized she was of child bearing age and did what it was designed to do. When she was rescued, the other me was so angry that she was about to wreak havoc. Cathi tried to help. The other me lashed out. She threw Cathi across the realities where she eventually wound up in your care."

"_What?_" Nia Korr snapped. "No one said anything about this! Hurting Catherine was one thing but this? We feel very strongly about kids in danger!"

"That is probably why no one mentioned it." Eliza said sadly. "Nia… I am sorry. I just… We don't know what happened to two of them. Two are alive and here. They fight as Tenno always have and will. The others? No one knows. The wardens lost them."

"_Lost?_ Oh, this is going to go over with my kin like a Bantha trying to swim!" Nia said with a long suffering groan. "I will be in touch."

She vanished. Nyx was clearly glaring at Hayden who bowed to Eliza and Cathi Gata before vanishing as well. Then Nyx vanished, but a small glowing ball of blue computer code remained where she had been!

"Jesse?" The Tenno and Eliza chorused.

"Pardon me for a moment." Jesse's voice came from the ball and blue energy code swept around the pair. The red plain vanished and they knelt on the floor of an Orokin style room. The only furniture was a bed. Jesse's voice turned pleased. "There you go."

"Jesse." Eliza all but growled that. "What are you doing?"

"Exercising my royal responsibility." Jesse replied as the ball swept up close to Cathi. "That virtual room is yours. Only you and she will be able to get in and out without setting off all _kinds_ of alarms, Cathi. Not even me or another Cyberlancer will be able to get in."

"Jesse, what are you _doing?_" Cathi Gata gasped as her warframe vanished and the only word for what she wore now was 'skimpy'. Beautiful, but… "Jesse! What the-?"

"I cannot break the walls that bind you both, that hurt both of you that I love so much but I _can_ hand you the tools to do it yourself." Jesse sounded close to tears. "My Mother Elizabeth is too tense. Please see what you can do about that, sister Cathi?"

The ball of code vanished and both women stared at each other.

"Um..." Eliza stammered. "Uh… Cathi... I… We need to talk."

"We do." Cathi Gata sighed. "Are you all right?" She asked in a tiny voice as she stared at the blood that was still falling down Eliza's front.

"No." Eliza started crying again and then she was hugging the Tenno. "It doesn't hurt. I… I won't dishonor you! I won't make you do-" She broke off as the Tenno laid a finger across her lips.

"We need to talk. Then, if… If you are up to it, we can maybe talk about other things but for right now? I am sorry." Cathi Gata slumped a bit. "I am sorry for failing you so many times. For what I remember and what I don't remember."

"It is not your fault!" Eliza snapped. "It was my mother!"

"I feel it is." Cathi Gata retorted. "What do _you_ feel? Right now?"

"Right now?" Eliza flushed. "Shame." Cathi Gata arched an eyebrow and Eliza looked away. "You are beautiful and my _daughter_ just threw us together hoping we would _sleep_ together!"

"She was right about one thing. We _do_ need to talk." Cathi Gata smiled and Eliza stared at her. "When we get out of here? I will _hold her_ for you to _spank_."

"Deal." Eliza's was still crying, but her smile was wide.

This was going to hurt a lot. But maybe, just maybe, they could find a way.


	19. Chapter 19

**Reverberation**

Cathi Gata smiled at the slumbering Empress. Even in sleep, Eliza seemed almost as tense as she did when she was awake. They had talked long and hard and despite Jesse' s less than subtle attempts at coercion, nothing else had happened or would for some time. They both needed time.

She felt it and laid her hand on Eliza's as the Empress woke up and instantly started looking for threats. She had felt the pulse too. But then Eliza smiled.

"It is all right, Cathi." Eliza said with a smile at the befuddled Tenno. "It is a summons, not a threat." "Did you get any sleep?" Eliza asked. The Tenno shook her head and the Empress sighed. "I didn't mean to nod off. Its been a hell of a day, or however long it has actually been."

"That it has." Cathi Gata agreed. She felt the pulse again. "A summons? From who?"

"Another me." Eliza sighed and sat up, her eyes lit on Cathi Gata who did not try to cover herself this time. They had talked about a lot of things. "It is not an emergency. She just wants to talk."

"Is there any way I can get real clothes before I talk to another you?" Cathi Gata fought to keep a whining tone out of her voice and succeeded. Mostly.

"This is all in the mind, Cathi." Eliza hugged the Tenno gently. "When we go, you will appear as you wish to. Which warframe?"

"I am used to the Valkyr." Cathi Gata did not shy away form Eliza's grasp this time.. Eliza was still so fragile that it hurt to look at her. "But the other one feels right. I should wear it. You made that one, did you not?"

"Not me." Eliza corrected. "I don't have those memories. Part of me wishes I did, but most of me is very glad I do not."

"It must get really confusing to have _three_ of you." Cathi Gata frowned as Eliza chuckled. "What?"

"There are a lot more than three." Eliza smiled and took Cathi Gata's hands in her own. "You will be in your Wisp warframe when we arrive. No one will offer you the slightest disrespect. No one will threaten me."

"Where are we going?" Cathi Gata all but begged as odd many colored power flared around Eliza. It wasn't Void energy. It was something else, but it felt good to the battered Tenno's senses.

"Home."

It was very strange. On one level, Cathi Gata knew that she and Eliza were sitting on a bed. On another? She was in space? No, she was riding a white horse as the horse ran down a rainbow! Eliza rode a palomino horse beside her, still holding her hand. Then the white horse turned to look at her and spoke!

"Just go with it, my dear." The horse's voice was perfectly understandable and kind. It sounded like _Eliza! _"This is going to rock you, but we are here for you. We are all here for you, Dear Catherine."

She knew Cathi Gata! The horse knew the Tenno! She was _talking_ and she sounded like Eliza! Catherine felt her sanity start to fray but something came from the horse and from Eliza's hand and she felt better.

"Easy." Eliza crooned as the horse she rode came closer and let Eliza take both of Cathi Gata's hands. "It is all right. It is all right. You have been here, but you do not remember. It will be a hell of a shock but we are here for you. And the others. Is everyone here?"

"Everyone you asked for. They were a bit surprised by our summons." The white horse was chiding Eliza as they continued to run down the rainbow through open space! "You didn't warn them."

"How could I _possibly_ explain in any way that didn't get me sent for immediate psychiatric review?" Eliza asked and the palomino under her laughed. That was male, but he was also kind when he spoke.

"True." The palomino snickered as Cathi Gata stared at him. "Your Empress has secrets."

"I knew that." Cathi Gata said and then made a face as both horse laughed with Eliza. "Or, I thought I did."

"This is going to be jarring, Tenno." The white horse warned. "If you feel bad in any way, let us know. We are here for you."

"Me?" Cathi Gata stared at Eliza who hung her head. "Eliza?"

"My family made any number of messes." Eliza said very quietly as the horses rode down the rainbow. "What we did to our reality was bad enough, but what my father tried to do with me when he realized I had copies in other realities would have been unforgivable. I..." She looked away and Cathi Gata squeezed her hands.

"He _knew?_" The Tenno felt faint and the horse under her made a worried noise.

"She is fading! We need to get her there now!" The horse started running faster and the other kept up. "What warframe?" She did not quite demand that of Eliza as an odd dot grew in the distance. Was it light? Dark? Hard to say. The rainbow was heading straight for it.

"Wisp." Eliza said and both horses looked at her. "She said it felt right." They looked at Cathi Gata who nodded.

"It would." The female horse was so gentle now. "This is going to be scary, Tenno, but we are here. You are not alone."

Before the reeling Tenno could realize what was happening, the dot in the distance grew into something far larger and far more terrifying. The black hole was swallowing everything in the area. The rainbow arrow-ed straight across the accretion disk and into the maw. Cathi Gata screamed as the horses _ran right into the heart of the black hole_ and then…

Cathi Gata was lying on something warm and soft as someone wiped her face. She looked up into the eyes of a woman who wore an odd garment that seemed like feathers. Was that a bird head that crowned hers? When she spoke, she too sounded like Eliza!

"Back with us?" The feathered woman asked and Cathi Gata managed a nod. "I know this is jarring, Tenno Catherine. They got you here in time. Your energy has stabilized. Your warframe awaits."

"What is happening?" Cathi Gata all but begged.

"Justice." The feathered woman retreated a step and suddenly a hawk swirled away from where she had been standing. She vanished before Cathi Gata could find her tongue.

"Justice?" Catherine sat up. She was wearing a Tenno bodysuit and she felt good. Better than she had for some time. The bed she lay on had four huge posts from which hung canopies. She wasn't bound, wasn't hurt. But… Why was she suddenly afraid? She stared around the room. It was odd. The walls were stone that looked to have been hand carved. There was one window, but it was shuttered. There was one door and a wardrobe against one wall. She couldn't tell where the dim light that illuminated the room was coming from. "Whose justice?"

"Elizabeth's." A calm voice heralded the door opening and two forms entering the room. Both were very odd in very different ways. The lioness was huge. The cat took up station beside the door as the huge metal form folded in on itself to pass the door. Its colors were familiar! The same as her Royal Guard Mirage warframe! It spoke again. "You have no need to fear."

That too was Eliza's voice!

"How many Elizas are there?" Cathi Gata grabbed her legs and hugged them tight as the robot thing took a step towards the bed and stopped.

"We stopped counting after a million." The lioness replied and her voice was sad, so sad. "There just didn't seem a point. You are in no danger, my dear. None."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata begged as the robot thing folded again and suddenly a humanoid form stood next to the bed. It reached out with slow hand to take hold of hers. Its face was not human in the slightest, but somehow, Cathi Gata knew it was sad and worried for her.

"When you were pulled out of the Prison, Elizabeth appeared nearby and her father realized that she had the power to travel between realities." The huge cat shook her head. "He did _not_ cover himself with glory."

"I will say." The robot just held Cathi Gata's hand. It did nothing more, but the comfort was clear and the distraught Tenno relaxed a little. That faded. She remembered the Emperor. He hadn't been a bad man, but he _had_ been ambitious.

"Oh no." The Tenno stammered. "He didn't!"

"He did." The lioness corrected her with a sigh. "He ordered Elizabeth to obey him. To take him to the wardens. That was fairly dumb. The girl seeming being who appeared bawling beside you wasn't his daughter no matter what she looked like!"

"She didn't hurt him, did she?" Cathi Gata begged.

"No." The robot reassured her. "Although _I_ would have." Cathi Gata stared at her and the robot shrugged. "I am not human or Orokin any more than that Elizabeth was. Someone starts telling me to do things like that, and I can tell them what to do with themselves. Megatron was a good role model for that." She muttered 'if little else'. Clearly not an Autobot!

"What did she do?" Cathi Gata relaxed as best she could. It was clear that neither of these odd beings were threats to her currently although both exuded 'danger'. "Even if it wasn't the mad Eliza I have met, _none_ of the Elizas I met would react well to such."

"None of us would, no. She didn't." The lioness said grimly. "It was the mad one, but she wasn't totally feral. She didn't lash out at her father when he commanded her to obey She didn't do anything but protect you and herself from the Royal Guard he commanded to restrain you both. She touched you and healed you. Then she started crying. The tiny children that came out with you woke and were upset." The lioness was crying now. "She begged you to forgive her and you did. You soothed the poor kids, gave them names and then you tried to soothe Eliza. She reacted badly to your touch."

"Why?" Cathi Gata stammered. "She knew I wasn't going to hurt her, didn't she?"

"She saw what happened to you." The robot Eliza said quietly. "She saw it _all_. She suspected what had been done before that. You acted far more subservient than any regular Guard and she suspected her mother had done something, but she had _no idea _until you touched her. When _she_ touched _you_, she warded her mind, but when _you_ touched _her_, she was unprepared. She saw it _all!_ All of what was done to you. She lost her mind."

"All of it?" Cathi Gata asked weakly. What little she remembered of her brainwashing was bad. Both the lioness and the robot nodded. "I… I see."

"She lashed out, thinking she was attacking her mother, but instead, she threw _you_ across the boundary." The robot was still just holding Cathi Gata's hand. "She realized, just a little bit too late that she hurt you instead of the one who tormented you so badly. She tried to pull you back, but you were gone. She did not take that well."

"I see." Cathi Gata repeated. "And this place?"

"This is an extra-reality fortress that Elizabeth built while she tried to find you." The lioness replied. "The Creator in the realm you woke in first helped. So did most of _us_ when we realized what was happening." The lioness grimaced. "It took a while for many of us to realize what was happening. Why we were different. Why we were always driven to search for something we could not define." She glanced at the robot who sighed.

"Yes, I was less than enthused. I was happy where I was." The robot said with a growl of annoyance as the lioness gave her a disdainful look. "_Yes_, what I did was evil by most accounting, but my research among others let the Empress resist the brainwashing. If Elizabeth had showed up as a human on Cybertron, it wouldn't have ended any better than if she had ended up in your world!"

"Aslan wouldn't have let her be brainwashed in the first place!" When the lioness growled, the very room seemed to shake. "Narnia can be rough, but there _are_ limits!"

"Yes, there are. I know that now." The robot was sad now. "Tenno Cathi Gata, the past is past. None of us can change the past, no matter how much we may wish it. Such _never_ ends well. Good, bad or indifferent, what has happened is set. We have to go forward. You are needed."

"Let her recover!" The lioness snapped.

"I have." Cathi Gata said slowly as she sat up. She gave the robot's hand a squeeze and the robot nodded to her. "Why am I needed?"

"The wardens of reality are rather annoyed with the young Elizabeth." The lioness said heavily. "Then again, _she_ is rather annoyed with _them_. As is the Creator and all the rest of _us_."

"I think I know where this is going, but I am not sure." Cathi Gata said slowly. "Elizabeth, the young one, she cast me through the realities. She tried to find me." Both female beings nodded. "But she couldn't be everywhere."

"No power that we know of is infinite. Even the Creator cannot be everywhere." The robot said softly. "She has mind boggling power, even more than the wardens in her own reality, but she cannot touch anything outside it without a great deal of help. And frankly? A little girl is a not a good searcher. Too many would have seen her as a target. Or _lunch_." She glared at the lioness who shrugged her massive shoulders.

"I have _never_ eaten a Daughter of Eve." The lioness said primly enough that Cathi Gata knew there was a story there.

"So why me? Why now?" Cathi Gata asked. "I mean, she found me, eventually. In a multiverse of infinite variation? Ouch. I don't want to _know_ how long it took, do I?" Both mismatched females shook their heads. "Why now?"

"The young Elizabeth is losing her mind again. She has set it up so that when she does, she expires." The robot said quietly. "Nothing we do helps. She does not have long and she is demanding punishment for what she did to you. She couldn't care less about the messes she and we left in many realities, but she _does_ care for you. She wants to end on her terms."

"I forgave her." Cathi Gata said weakly and both of the others nodded. "She won't accept that?"

"No." The lioness was grim now. "She won't. She wants punishment and it _has_ to come from you. She is holding herself together through sheer force of will until you punish her."

"I can't do that! And even if I could? Will it hurt others?" Cathi Gata asked and both of the beings in the room with her shook their heads.

"She and many of us have worked hard to keep her end from affecting anything else. We try very hard to avoid the wardens. They don't like us. And _we_ don't like _them_. That said? They know what is happening and they have offered aid." The lioness shook her head. "The silly kit refuses to work with the wardens at all. It is very hard to blame her after what they did, but she takes it to extremes."

"I _can't_ punish _her_." Cathi Gata said slowly. "Yes, what she did was wrong, but she had _cause!_"

"None of us are arguing with that." The robot said with heartfelt groan. "She _is_."

"If no one can save her and she is demanding punishment, then..." Cathi Gata groaned. "I would make the wardens take her, keep her alive and work for them as punishment. She would hate it."

"The Creator tried that." The robot actually shuddered and the lioness covered her head with both paws! "It didn't work out so well. There is a _reason_ that the Horsemen hate her."

"Are they here?" Cathi Gata asked and the robot nodded. "I need to talk to Fury."

"You need to put your warframe on first." The robot pulled her gently but firmly. Cathi Gata did not resist. She eased herself off the bed and was led towards the wardrobe. "This place is warded, but getting here hurt you. You were _supposed_ to be in your warframe. Jesse is going to get an earful from a _lot_ of people!"

"She meant well." Cathi Gata opened the wardrobe and indeed, her warframe hung there. It spun and she gulped as she saw the seams open in back. "The Empress does need help. So do I."

"There are limits to what we can do." The lioness said as Cathi Gata stepped into her warframe and it felt like coming home. "Even if the wardens wouldn't take offense and get stupid, many of us would stand out like sore thumbs in your reality. We would likely cause more harm than good by our mere presence."

The warframe came alive and Cathi Gata felt whole. Which made no sense since she didn't have feet now! She turned to the robot who nodded to her and indicated the door. The lioness rose and smiled as Cathi Gata flew towards her. Said smile was terrifying, but also comforting in an odd way.

"She wants to be punished, but she won't accept it from anyone else." Cathi Gata mused as the door opened and Fury stood just outside. The Horseman's face was blank, but she hissed as Cathi Gata flew to her and hugged her!

"Hey!" Fury protested.

"Thank you! I know you have an image to maintain and I know you will probably hurt me for that." Cathi Gata released the apocalyptic warrior. "But you destroyed the Prison, didn't you?"

"We did." Fury said with a glower. "It will never be able to repair itself after what we did to it."

"Then formally; I thank you and your brothers for avenging me and so many others who fell to that horrible place." Cathi Gata bowed deeply to Fury who stared at her. "Now? I need to ask something and I am not sure if you can do it."

"Oh?" Fury inquired.

"You hate the girl Elizabeth and from everything I have heard, you have every right to." Cathi Gata sighed. "But she is immortal just as you are. She is demanding punishment from me, and I can't do it. I see her and I see the little girl I hurt so many times. The little girl I took back to her mother when she tried to run away. The little girl I _held for her mother to torment_..." Cathi Gata choked off as Fury laid a hand on her arm.

"What do you wish?" Fury asked. "I too know regret."

"If I defer or delegate the punishment, she won't accept that if she is anything like the Empress I know." Cathi Gata said softly. "So I need someone else to punish her at _my_ direction. Someone that both of us know will do the job efficiently and mercilessly."

"She won't let me do it." Fury said with a frown. "I would."

"There is too much baggage between you and her. You have every right to do it, but she cannot accept it from you." Cathi Gata nodded as Fury frowned wider. "I know someone she _will_ accept it from. Someone who scared her as a little girl. Someone who did the wrong things for the wrong reasons, thinking they were right. Someone who did horrible things to many, many people. Someone who would be utterly impartial here."

"Who?" Fury inquired, openly curious. Cathi Gata leaned close and Fury hissed as the Tenno whispered in her ear. "NO! Not _him!_ He turned out a weenie! How can she be scared of _him?_"

"She didn't see all of the movies until she was older. When she had just turned five, she was caught in the Royal Guard quarters, watching _my_ holos. Holos she had no _business_ watching at that age. She saw Episodes IV and V. She didn't see the rest until she was nine. Long after the mad one split off." Cathi Gata chuckled. "She was punished, but I was not involved. I knew of her, of course and I liked what I knew, but I never met her until I was ordered to ward her. She was honestly terrified of him. Can you ask him to come? Do _not_ get violent! It won't end well."

"No, it wouldn't." Fury thought hard and then she smiled. "_You_ get to explain it to him."

"Fine." Cathi Gata stilled along with everyone else as as portal opened and a huge form in black armor strode out of it. The breathing, the helmet, the cape, the lightsaber at his belt! It was him.

"I admit to curiosity. This is very odd. I would hope that you have a good reason for interrupting my meditation." The Dark Lord of the Sith said calmly through the rasp of his respirator. Cathi Gata bowed formally to him, one warrior to another, and he eyed her.

"I do, Lord Vader."


	20. Chapter 20

**KBTKaiser- The horses were from an 80s cartoon called 'Wildfire'. The rainbow was not. More on that in the next chapter.**

* * *

**Justice**

Cathi Gata waited in her bow as the huge man in black armor looked around. No one moved.

"I am awake and I am aware." One of the most recognizable villains in fictional history said slowly. "The Force says that this is real, but this is nothing like anything I have seen. Can you explain?"

"I can." Cathi Gata rose from her bow. "My name is Cathi Gata. I needed someone totally impartial. Someone who has no connection to me or anyone here. Please do not take insult, Lord Vader, but do you know of a theory of multiple dimensions? Multiple universes existing in parallel?"

"I do." The lenses of his helmet seemed to bore into her soul, but that was only an illusion. He wasn't pushing. Not yet. "The math is quite complex."

"So I have heard." Cathi Gata kept her voice calm and respectful and he seemed to relax a little. Just a little. "I have no quarrel with you or your Empire. As I say, I needed someone totally impartial."

"That is not the only reason." The dark armored form looked at the odd congregation in the hallway. The warframe clad Tenno. The robot. The lioness. The Horseman. Then he looked back at Cathi Gata. "You clearly do not lack for power and if this is an alternate reality, then my own power is likely inadequate to free me from here by force."

"I would hardly dare to command the Dark Lord of the Sith." Cathi Gata said carefully. "But I do not suggest such." She shook her head. "Lord Vader, if you wish to leave, no one will dare stop you. I would ask that you hear me out, but I am not stupid enough to make demands."

"This _very_ odd and I _am_ curious." Vader said slowly. "You are not subservient, but you are respectful. Your feeling in the Force is oddly familiar, but..." He paused and chuckled darkly. "I remember that feeling. Bladeborn." He held out a hand to her and she extended her left arm that he took in oddly gentle fingers, turning it so that the Bladeborn energy sigil was visible on her warframe's armor. Now, his voice held respect! "_Masterblade_ no less. How is Nia Korr these days?"

"Still the same." The Tenno did not try to pull her arm free and he nodded to her, releasing her arm. "Still _crazy_." She muttered as everyone else stared at her and Vader. She lowered her arm slowly.

"_That_ is unlikely to ever change." Darth Vader was amused! "Is she here?"

"Yes." Cathi Gata nodded. "She is involved in what happened. It is a mess and involves multiple realities."

"That cannot be good." Vader said slowly. He looked away for a moment and was clearly thinking hard. When he looked back, Cathi Gata met his helmet eyes lenses calmly. "Why seek my aid?"

"There is much I cannot say." Cathi Gata chose her words with care but knew he would see and sense far more than she let out. His power was incredible, far more than anyone she remembered meeting. She had no chance against him and they both knew it. "What I can say is that the one responsible for the mess is demanding punishment from me. She takes the form of a young human child, but she is not. I knew her long ago and I hurt her very badly. I had no choice, but I did. My honor says that I cannot punish her." Vader nodded slowly. "She won't accept it from anyone else, especially not anyone she has had dealings with before. She will accept it from you if I direct you to punish her."

"Why would you wish for me to do it?" Vader repeated, openly curious now.

"With no disrespect intended, you are frightening even when you wish not to be. Fear is a weapon you wield well." Cathi Gata said quietly and the Sith nodded. "She does not know you, but she knows of you. She is afraid of you, Elizabeth is. She will respect you and if I direct you to punish her, and you do, then she will understand that it will be both efficient and merciless."

"Punishment is given for transgressions." Vader said slowly. "She has?"

"She has." Cathi Gata said softly. "Part to save me from a horrid fate, but other parts for other reasons. She is not sane, but she has cause for most what she does. It may not be a sane cause from our point of view-" She broke off as Vader sighed.

"But there is always another point of view. That likely won't change no matter where you go." The Sith said heavily and Cathi Gata nodded. "Why not simply strike her down? That would seem to be the easiest recourse."

"She is immortal." Cathi Gata said just as heavily and Vader shook his head. Then again, if _half_ of what she knew about him was true, he had dealt with Sith immortals a few times. Rarely did such end well for anyone. "It doesn't work. It has been tried many times."

"So, to stop her, you need to punish her, but _you_ cannot because your honor as a Bladeborn says you cannot." Vader mused and Cathi Gata nodded. "Indeed a tangle."

"When she accepts punishment and it is carried out, she will expire." Cathi Gata said softly. "Until then? She will suffer. I do not blame her for what she did. Few who understand the facts do, but she _did_ transgress. She needs to end and I cannot do it. Your reputation is well deserved, but I also know more than the common folk do. I do not remember all of my time with the Bladeborn. Much of what I had was lost, but I do remember bits. Nia said you had honor."

"Within limits." Vader warned her. "You Bladeborn are far more constrained than I am." Cathi Gata inclined her head in acknowledgment and he chuckled again. "_Another_ reason to ask my aid."

"You won't take any disrespect from anybody." Cathi Gata agreed. "This is going to be a mess and a half. I do not demand. I _ask_ your assistance, Lord Vader. _You_ can see the being as more than a hurting little girl."

"You ask me to harm a child?" Vader's tone hardened. "One who has done nothing to me?"

"She is not a child, Lord Vader." Cathi Gata said sadly. "But yes, that is what I ask. I ask that you punish her at my direction. I do not know what form the punishment she will demand will take. She is not very lucid sometimes. She has great power, but limited control when she rages."

"That is not good." Vader said slowly and Cathi Gata nodded agreement. He looked at the wall for a moment, but she could feel the Force bubbling around him in seething waves. When he looked at her again, the Force was a focused laser aimed at her soul. It was ready to pry into her mind if needed. "I need more information. What happened?" Cathi Gata stared at him and he shook his head. "There are many pieces of this that do not add up. If this is an alternate reality, then I am unlikely to remember this when I return to mine. Also, if I remember the math correctly, then time has little meaning when traveling between such. I can return to where I was milliseconds after I leave. I need to know more. Your quandary has piqued my curiosity. I _can_ do what you ask. Why should I?"

"The truth will make you very angry, Lord Vader." Cathi Gata bowed to him again.

"I am always angry, Masterblade. I am the master of my anger, not its slave." Darth Vader said in a very quiet voice. "What I am _not_ is stupid. If you did not believe that I was the only choice, you would not have summoned me here." Cathi Gata nodded as she rose. The Sith folded his arms and it was clear he would not budge. "Explain. Now."

"As you wish."

* * *

Two hours later

The room had been bustling with conversation. That died as Cathi Gata entered with the Dark Lord of the Sith at her side. Fury walked right behind her with the robot and the lioness. All of whom were wary. The Dark Lord wasnot angry. Indeed, he seemed _resigned!_ The oddly assorted trio stopped just inside the door as Cathi Gata and her companion walked to where the young form of Elizabeth sat in the middle of the floor. She had clearly been crying. Empress Eliza sat beside her, face pale as she saw Cathi and who was beside her. She opened her mouth, but closed it. Dozens of forms, some recognizable, some utterly fantastical sat around the huge amphitheater. All of them looked wary. As well they should. Nia Korr stood to one side along with both dragons from before. All of them looked shocked, but then Nia smiled. It was not a nice smile as she nodded to both of the newcomers who ignored her

Cathi Gata walked right up to where the girl sat and shook her head.

"You are demanding punishment from me." Cathi Gata said to the girl in front of her. "I have no right to punish you."

"You do!" Elizabeth started, only to freeze as Darth Vader turned to face her. "Um..."

"You will have your chance to speak." The voice from the black helmet was cold and merciless. "Until then? Be silent." He shook his head and looked at Cathi Gata who bowed hers.

"This is wrong." Cathi Gata said very quietly. "Good and evil do not come into this. You were pushed into what you became. I know by who." The glare she leveled on the female dragon should have rendered the being to ash. "You want an end, I can accept that, but this? No. I cannot accept this. I am not the one to punish you." She looked at Eliza who bowed her head. "How many times, Empress? How many times did I hurt you? Drag you back to your mother, kicking and screaming?"

"I stopped counting." Eliza said very softly.

"I didn't." Cathi Gata said and Eliza's head shot up. "Thirty seven times over a four year period." A gasp swept the room and only the dark form at her side seemed unmoved. "If anyone here deserves punishment, _I_ do. Which is why you want to hurt me, isn't it?" She asked the young Elizabeth who froze.

"I what?" The young Elizabeth asked, then gulped as Darth Vader growled at her. "Apologies, Lord Vader." She said weakly. "But that makes no sense!"

"It does." The Dark Lord turned to the trio of non-Elizas. Nia Korr and the two dragons. "Nia Korr. Grandmaster now, is it?" He asked Nia who nodded. "Still up to your neck in trouble, I see."

"Always, Lord Vader. It is a gift." The green eyed swordmistress replied with a shrug. "I did not expect this, but Catherine has always found unique ways to solve problems. Even for us."

"I would hope that such is not normal even for your insane lot." Vader replied and Nia shook her head. "Good. I hope no one has disrespected you this time?" Was he _mocking_ her? "You made a very gory mess on my Star Destroyer's decks."

"The idiots had it coming. You were better off without them." Nia retorted and Darth Vader _laughed!_ It was as if Death itself was laughing! Not even the Horsemen were so terrifying!

"That they did." Vader turned to Cathi Gata who was looking at him. "Ask her sometime about the price of rudeness." Everyone looked at Nia who shrugged.

"I will." Cathi Gata replied. "Although I can imagine. What little I remember about her says not to disrespect her."

"A very bad idea, true. She may not match my power normally, but only a _fool_ underestimates a Bladeborn, even a supposedly _bound_ and _h__elpl__ess_ one." The Dark Lord of the Sith knelt down and looked the small girl in the eye. She froze like a deer in headlights. "Why do you hate this warrior so much that you demand she hurt herself to end you?" His voice was almost kind!

"She deserves to have closure." Elizabeth said weakly. "I… I hurt her."

"And?" Vader inquired. There was an odd undercurrent to his tone as he looked around the hall. Anticipation? "Yes, you hurt her. She told me what you did and why. But eventually, you found her. With a bit of help, it seems." He was not as angry. If anything, he was amused! "You know how she feels. She does not wish to harm you. So, why press her to do so? Do you truly hate her that much?"

"I don't hate her at all!" Elizabeth protested "She was the one shining thing in my life! My protector! My only true defender! I don't hate her!"

"Then why?" Vader rose and glared down at the quailing girl. "Why hurt someone who defended you so staunchly? Why make her do it if you don't hate her?" He shook his head. "There is little I do not know about hate, fake child. You cannot hide such from the Force. I feel it within you, growing even now. Hate for her among so many others."

"She has to stop me!" The young Elizabeth cried. "I have tried to stop myself! I can't!"

"Why?" Vader demanded and the very walls of the fortress seemed to shake. "_Why_ does she have to be the one to stop you? Why do you hate her so much?"

"I don't hate her!" Elizabeth was on her feet and more than person gasped as the Dark Lord shook his head.

"A lie." He looked at Cathi Gata who bowed her head. "It is as I believed. She hates you as much as she hates the dragons."

"What?" Empress Eliza stammered.

"Tell them." Vader's tone was quiet, but it seemed to shake the very walls again as the young Elizabeth shook her head savagely. "Or I will make you." There was no threat in his tone, but no mercy either.

"Leave her _alone!_" A bulky form strode into view. The Hildryn warframe held a Soma Prime rifle aimed at the Dark Lord who did not react. "She is not yours to torment!"

"Funny." Cathi Gata said softly into the sudden silence that fell as everyone stared at the Hildryn. But not the small Elizabeth, she was snarling silently. "Sera doesn't talk, but you _do_, Helen. And… How did you get here?" She looked at the wardens, both of whom shook their heads. Nia shook hers. "You have been here before."

"Helen?" Empress Eliza paled. "No. I didn't bring you here." She stare at the young version of her who was impassive. "You…. What have you done?"

"She promised to get me my brothers back." Helen said with a growl. "No thanks to _our dear mother _or you,_ Aunt Eliza!_" She shifted her aim to Eliza, but Cathi Gata was between them now, between the young Elizabeth and Eliza and not coincidentally, blocking the Hildryn's line of fire. Vader moved to stand with her and was between Eliza and the younger her. Also, clearly by plan. His hand was on his lightsaber, but he did not draw it.

"Whatever I have done or not done..." Cathi Gata said slowly. "Shooting her won't help, daughter."

"You do not get to call me that." Helen snapped. "You abandoned us!"

"I didn't remember you. I _don't_ remember you. Is it abandonment if I am not allowed to remember?" Cathi Gata did not ask Helen that! A stir and Sera stepped out of the mass of forms who had risen when Helen had drawn her weapon. The Nova was shaking her head, clearly struggling with herself. "I am truly sorry. Don't fight it, Sera. I know what to do. This does need closure and I have to do it. She took my memories. I wondered why. Now I know." She looked at Vader. "I so wanted you to be wrong, but the evidence all said you were right. You are. This is why I needed someone impartial. To see what I was missing."

"You show more wisdom than most can ever dream, Masterblade." Darth Vader said quietly. "Do you need a weapon?"

"Thank you, but I have my own." Cathi Gata replied and he nodded. Her Glaive like sword appeared in her hand as she turned to face the young Elizabeth who had frozen. "Why?" No one moved but Helen who shifted her position to aim at Eliza. Vader shook his head and made a motion with his free hand. Her weapon flew from her hand to land in his! She tried to draw a pistol, but it flew from her hand and then her polearm flew from her back before she could grasp it. Both of those landed on the floor next to the Dark Lord who shook his head. "Why do you hate me so much? Why turn my children against me? Why?"

"You loved them." The young Elizabeth said in a quiet, dangerous voice. "You didn't love me."

"What? You were my job!" Cathi Gata snapped. "If you remember nothing else, then you have to remember that I _did_ love you! I put up with more crap from you than any of your siblings because I loved you. From what was said, I saved you from the Prison! Why do that if I didn't love you?"

"And then you came out of that horrible place with four little squalling brats." The form in front of her wavered and it was not a human girl. She had golden skin and black hair. "You said and I quote 'I don't care how you were made, you are mine and I love you'. You _never_ said that to me!" Eliza paled at the vehemence in the mad high caste Orokin's voice.

"And people wonder why Sith don't like love." Vader said in a very quiet voice. "It rarely ends well for those with power."

"Protecting you was my duty!" Cathi Gata said sternly. "My job! Whatever my feeling may have been, I had to subsume them for the job. You know this. Or, you did. Now?" She shook her head. "Helen, what happened to your brothers?"

"What do you care?" Helen snapped as several of the varied forms in the room moved to restrain her. From the look of her warframe, its power had been drained somehow but that did not make her defenseless. Far from it.

"Because I bet I know who made Sera swear an oath of silence and I _bet_ it wasn't the wardens." Cathi Gata said as she stepped up to the Orokin form in front of her. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Sera nod and relax. "Was it?" She demanded of the golden skinned Eliza.

"You know nothing!" The Orokin girl's voice taunted her as Cathi Gata drew back her arm. "You will never see them again!"

The Masterblade's sword hissed as it swung.


	21. Chapter 21

**Duties**

_Whack!_

The golden skin girl jumped as the flat of the circular Bladeborn sword slapped her on the rump! The girl jumped, but the snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting had her freezing in place. The Dark Lord's red blade did not rise to a ready position, but only an idiot with a death wish would take him lightly.

"You asked for punishment, insane one." Darth Vader said coldly. "She is giving it. If you move, I will maim you. I will not kill you."

That was not a threat. That was a promise. The golden skinned girl swallowed hard as Cathi Gata's blade impacted her rump again and again!

"I did love you." Cathi Gata said with a growl as she spanked the girl. "I loved you from the moment I saw you try to heal that tree. I loved you more when you fought off that arrogant bully. You are not sane. I know this. I should not blame you for acting insane but I am not that strong." She hit the girl again with the flat of her sword. "You wanted me to hurt, Helen wanted me to hurt. I _am! _Well done, both of you!" She spanked the girl again.

"Cathi..." Eliza said softly as Sera all but ran towards her mother. Eliza grabbed the Nova warframe and hugged her as Sara heaved. "You are stronger than them. Better than them. Don't let them win."

"I am in control. I am no one's slave now." Cathi Gata said with a growl as she slapped the girl's rump one final time and stepped back. Darth Vader and Nia Korr both nodded approval.

"'Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall free me'." Darth Vader quoted part of the Sith Code and Cathi nodded.

"I am not Sith." Cathi Gata said firmly. "If I was? I would kill her and probably let her mind loose from that form."

"That gets quite inconvenient." Darth Vader agreed as he deactivated his lightsaber. "You Bladeborn limit yourselves in so many ways, but it is always interesting watching you work." He was appreciative!

"To each their own, Lord Vader." Cathi Gata inclined her head to the Dark Lord who nodded back. "I was a slave once. Never again. Not to her. Not to my anger."

"It is a good thing you are unlikely to come back to my reality." The Sith replied. "We would in all likelihood find ourselves in conflict."

"That would not end well." Cathi Gata agreed. Then she sighed. "All I can offer is my thanks, Lord Vader. I hope this has entertained you."

"Every time I see Bladeborn, things get interesting. Often messy but always interesting." Darth Vader nodded to her again. "The only thing that I can _always_ be assured of around you sword welders is that I will not be bored."

"We try." Nia Korr stepped forward to stand by Cathi Gata. Her smile was a cold thing of anger, but he took no offense. If he understood anything? Darth Vader understood anger and betrayal.

"You succeed. I need to get back before the Rebellion gets any further ideas." A portal yawned behind him and he strode into it without a backward glance. Only after he was gone did _anyone_ relax.

"And I thought _she_ was crazy." Will nodded towards the frozen golden girl who morphed back into an ashen faced tiny form of Eliza. "Why did you call _him?_"

"Because I needed someone totally impartial and I remembered a bit of Nia's tales of her time hopping. As he was at that time, he didn't take shit from anyone but his Master." Cathi Gata did not lower her sword. "He was never a good man, but he meant well. Just like I did." She shook her head as she looked from the young Eliza to Helen and back. "He is powerful, smart and very experienced in ferreting out the truth from morasses of lies. I didn't want to believe him, but when he was presented the evidence, he came to the proper conclusion. He saw the truth even as buried as it was in lies."

"Sith he may be, but Darth Vader was never stupid." Nia Korr agreed. "Driven. Angry. More than a bit blind to some things, but never stupid. If he acted that way? It was planned. By him or his master." She stretched a bit. "Admittedly, he does fear better than anyone else I have met."

"No one else would have made her freeze that way." Cathi Gata agreed and the young Eliza snarled at her. "And now? We come to it. Your desire to end was a lie too. You have hurt me, you and Helen both, but that is not good enough for you, is it?" She looked at the restrained Hildryn warframe who was struggling against her captors now. "If you wish, I can ask him to come _back_. This time he was amused and curious. If I do it again, he is likely to be angry. You would not survive such." Her tone turned cold and hard. "_She_ is immortal. _You_ are _not_. Calm down."

"I have nothing to say to you!" Helen spat the words at Cathi Gata.

"Good." The Wisp clad Tenno replied and the Hildryn stiffened as Cathi Gata turned to the two dragons. "This whole mess started because _someone_ tried to _make_ people to take your role." She glared at the female dragon who met her gaze. "What was it you said? 'Molding people into the role doesn't work'? That was experience talking, not caution."

"What I did was wrong." Raviine said softly. "They said they would destroy it, but then, they used it."

"And you didn't want to destroy it because it might actually have worked." The Tenno replied, still cold as ice and about as soft. "Might have made people who could do what my Empress can. Naturally walk between realities." Eliza stilled and Cathi moved to her side, her tone gentling. "All I ask, Empress? Please try to find my boys? Sera! Ward the Empress!"

Sera was in motion, moving to stand between the Empress and the younger version of her as the girl shimmered with power. Then Cathi Gata moved away and the girl's attention was split. She couldn't seem to decide who to attack.

"Will Darkstorm." Cathi Gata's tone was not steely and everyone stilled as she took a long, slow step towards the younger Eliza who stared at her, confused. "The Tenno named Helen has really irritated my Empress. From what I understand, you could not hold the Empress."

"Liza was hurting, grieving and all but inconsolable from her injuries and all the losses she had seen and suffered. Her family, her friends, her entire _world!_" Will said sadly. "I wanted to help. What I did was wrong, I know that now, but all I really wanted to do was help my friend. We took her, held her, sedated her and tried to heal her. We failed." He slumped a bit. "She cannot trust me now. Such would be foolish."

"Rebekah woke me up from my grief and the drugs. I woke in their healers' care. They were gentle, but..." The Empress said softly as Sera moved to stay between her and the young Eliza. "You wardens did not want to let me go. Yes, Rebekah tricked you, but you would not have let me go any other way."

"You were weak, sick and _bleeding_, Liza! Nothing we did stopped it!" Will said heavily.

"It was an Orokin bio-weapon designed to keep a person bleeding until they perished from blood loss." The Empress winced in memory. "No. Nothing would have stopped it except Rebekah's unique brand of healing." She made a face. "Still hurt like hell."

"For a time, I thought she had killed you instead of teleporting you both back to your hideaway." Will was lost in memory. "I was very angry. I am still angry that she tricked me, but it was for the best. You were needed there. We would have welcomed you, but your people needed you."

"The crown would have latched onto anyone with even the remotest hint of my genetics and it would not have ended well. Maybe one of my girls. Maybe someone else." Empress Eliza said heavily. "If they were lucky, it would have destroyed them. If not? It would have driven them mad. With the power of the Orokin database accessible, they would have tried to use it and in all likelihood, destroyed everything in our solar system." She gave a shudder. She looked at the young version of herself. "Is that what you want? The crown?"

"Fuck you." The girl snapped and the Empress shrugged.

"We cannot let her go." The Empress said softly and it was echoed by many around the room, all of whom looked worried.

"You can't stop me!" The girl rose but stilled as Cathi Gata moved to block her path. "You cannot kill me! I am the only one who knows where your boys are!"

"I am not going to kill you." Cathi Gata's quiet and calm words stilled the murmurs that had started and everyone stared at her. "I _am_ going to stop you."

"What?" The young Eliza stare as the Empress paled.

"Cathi! No!" The Empress started forward, but Sera was there to hold her back. "_Cathi!_ _NO!_"

"I hope you find peace, Empress Eliza." Cathi said softly and then she threw her blade to Sera who caught it, staring at it as the colors shifted to match _her_ warframe! "Maybe you will find love? We would not have fit, despite Jesse's machinations. We only share our horrible pasts. Nothing more. Sera? Do not let her approach me." That was a command and Sera nodded, head bowed.

"_CATHI!_" The Empress screamed as several of the others moved to assist Sera in holding the flailing woman back.

"That is not my name." The warframe dropped something that started to glow as she started towards the young Eliza who back up, but hit something invisible and snarled an obscenity as Fury moved to stand by the Tenno, matching her movements.

"What do we call you then?" Fury asked, her tone kind as another small object fell from the warframe and then another. The small glowing objects surrounded the young Eliza who was snarling and trying to get past something that could not be seen.

"My mother named me Catherine." The Tenno said quietly. "My father's surname was Gata. He was a dockworker and she was a middle manager. I know little more about that, mainly feelings, a couple of recordings and a few vague memories. They both died in a Technocyte outbreak when I was four years old. I was infected, but survived. Changed." She took a deep breath. "When I was old enough, I sought out my past and discovered both good and bad, as is the way of all things. I gave my name as Catherine Gata when I joined the Royal Guard. To honor them both." She looked at Fury as the female Horseman nodded slowly. "You have been hurt the worst by the insane one. What form do you wish me to take?"

"What?" Fury asked, clearly taken aback by the question.

"I have some leeway in how I do this." Catherine Gata said softly. "If she is bound in any inanimate object, it will eventually crumble or decay. A properly designed _animate_ object if maintained, will last as long as it is maintained."

"You are not saying what I _think_ you are saying?" Fury asked, stunned. "Are you?"

"She insulted your horse's memory." Catherine dropped a final object. There were six of them surrounding the now clearly furious fake child. The Tenno who was working towards something shook her head. "Would you like me to become a horse? You, I would trust to ward said horse."

"Ah..." Fury stared at the Tenno and then to the side where her brothers shimmered into view. Power was pouring off of them in waves that were clearly hindering the insane being's escape. "I don't think I have the right to ask that. Rampage was my companion in so much." She bowed her head. ""Killed by my arrogance as much as Envy's evil. No, I need time to grieve, time to think. No. Thank you, but no."

"Well, I thought I would offer." Catherine said softly as the Empress slumped in the hands that held her and started to cry. "She hurt you very badly."

"She did." Fury allowed. "But… You will confine her?"

"Killing her won't work. She is, at her core, energy, not physical. Kill that form and she flows free until she can reform a physical shell." Catherine agreed. "The Royal Guard learned a lot about such things. The Royal Family had its share of 'Oops' moments. I can confine her. I will."

"You can't!" The girl sneered in her prison. "This won't hold me!"

"That doesn't have to hold you for long." Catherine replied absently as she looked at Helen who was still struggling. "Darkstorms? I have a recruit for you." The Hildryn froze and Catherine continued. "If Helen goes to back to our reality, she won't live out the day. The Empress is nothing if not vindictive to those who harm her loved ones. I know she loved the boys and she knows how to kill Tenno."

"I did!" The Empress was crying in the arms of a golden scaled snake woman who was crooning softly to her. "Cathi! No! We are outside of time and space! We crossed the rainbow! We can-"

"She is out of control." Catherine cut the Empress off. "Insane. She is still my responsibility! I can stop her and I _must_. I am her guard. My first duty, Empress! I _will_ do my duty!" The Empress bowed her head, still crying.

"What?" Came from Fury and the young Eliza as Catherine raised her hands and golden power started to build in around them.

"The Royal Guard are the protectors of the Royal Family." Catherine said as she focused on the power growing around her hands. "But that is our _second_ duty." The girl in the cage of energy blanched and insane amounts of power started flashing from her, but they went nowhere. Catherine shook her head as power flared from her hands. Each of the objects she had dropped flashed with the same energy and the girl in the cage screamed in agony as her power faded. It would not last long. Long _enough_. "I have her, Horsemen. My duty, not yours."

"We would aid you." Strife said as he stepped forward.

"You have your own duties and they are likely just as harsh as mine." Catherine said softly as she raised her hands again, this time separated from each other. A tiny sphere of light appeared and started to pulse, growing slowly. She paused. "She made you sing and play, and I know you clearly hate the music she made you do, but..."

"But?" Strife asked as he stepped up to her, wary of the power that she was showing.

"I shouldn't." Catherine said sadly. "It is both absurd and probably a bit humiliating. I won't ask."

"You want music? I think I can guess why." Fury asked very quietly, her face shrouded by her hair. "We can do music. Just not _that_, please." She made a face.

"I would give _anything_ to hear Beethoven's 9th symphony right now." Catherine said sadly. Fury stared at her and Catherine bowed her head. "As I said? I found some of my past. My mother loved Beethoven."

"Fourth movement?" Fury asked. "'Ode to Joy'?"

"Yes." Catherine sighed. "Hard to believe a deaf man wrote that, but-" She broke off as familiar beautiful music sounded from the side of the room. War of the Horsemen had a cello in hand and he was playing! She stared as Death joined in with a violin! Then Strife was beside them and he had an oboe in hand! They were… "There is no need!" Catherine pleaded.

Fury shook her head, reached out to pat the Tenno's shoulder and then retreated to the group as other instruments joined in from all around the room. Keyboards of various kinds, brass, woodwinds, strings! Some, Catherine could recognize, some she had no idea what they were. But the music… It _was_ 'Ode to Joy'! Fury took her place beside her brothers and at the proper time, she opened her mouth and fluent German flew unerringly. The alto part of the movement came from her lips to join three other voices, two low, one high from around the room. It was so beautiful. So perfect. Pure music. Pure joy. It was...

The Tenno was crying with joy as the music swelled all around her. The girl shaped being in her cage had recovered a bit. She was staring at the Tenno as Catherine focused herself and power grew between her hands.

"_Don't do this!_" The girl screamed, barely heard over the gorgeous tones. "_I will give them back to you!_"

"Anything you say will be a lie or an attempt to escape. This ends _now._" Catherine focused her self as the music faded almost completely and then, as the chords dimmed into a bare whisper and then exploded into the rousing chorus joined with orchestra that crowned Beethoven's masterpiece, she threw every single piece of herself into the sphere and into a bright beam of multi-colored light that flew at the cringing girl.

It was the job. The sole purpose originally of the Royal Guard had been to keep the Royal Family in check. They always worked hard to make sure that they outnumbered the Royal Family for a single, simple reason. They always had to stand ready to do their duty. Even the _Empress_' guards had always been wary of her and her expanding brood. Ready to do their duty if needed. Always and forever. Their duties had expanded over time, but that had always been their first and most important duty, so all knew how to do this. How to stop something that could not be stopped.

Catherine was singing along with the chorus as her personal energy shredded! It didn't hurt. Odd, but she was glad of that even as her very being unraveled and tore into the screaming girl in front of her. She couldn't kill the girl. She didn't _have_ to. She pulled the flailing girl's energy into her own, seeking to separate every bit from each and every other piece, holding one piece of energy away the rest, bit by little bit. Every iota of energy that made up the little girl was taken and matched to a bit of Catherine's stored and borrowed power. The girl would not be able to reconstitute as long as Catherine's new form was maintained. It seemed to take an eternity, but it was likely only moments before Catherine felt her warframe start to fall apart, drained utterly of power as the process continued. It would as long as Catherine's physical form had energy. Which would not be much longer. Even the energy binding the cells of the biotech armor together was pulled into her final duty.

She was suddenly tired. So tired. She had known all along, she realized. As soon as she had seen that insane version of Eliza, she had known how this would end. The first duty of the Royal Guard was fatal to the one who did it. Always. Perhaps, Eliza could break free of her prison of grief and pain now that her constant reminder was gone? Maybe. Either way, it was no longer Catherine's problem. The beautiful music faded.

Everything did.

Was it her imagination that she saw an _egg_ start to from under the combined and diluted energy before her vision went dark? Was she dreaming as a soft familiar voice crooned to her as she fell into darkness from which there would be no coming back? Crying as it faded with her own mind.

_I am so sorry. Thank you for stopping me, dear Catherine. Rest now, my one true knight._

Only then did Catherine Gata, one time unknowing mother of four, one time Masterblade of the Bladeborn, one time Champion of the Orokin Royal Guard, one time slave to a horrible mistress and one time almost matriarch of the Karl's Shadow clan of Tenno, finish her duty and die.

* * *

**Beethoven's 9th symphony is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written. His last complete and arguably most magnificent work. He was almost totally deaf when he wrote it. When he conducted it, he couldn't hear what was played, so he messed up several bits of it. ****No one who heard it CARED!**

**Beethoven's 9th Symphony, 4th movement, commonly called 'Ode to Joy', stands even today in the 21st century as one of the seminal pieces of western music and likely always will as long as humans remember such things. I listened to it every time I worked on this chapter and yes, I cried. Not in grief. In joy. Catherine died as she wished. Free and with no pain. Doing her duty on her terms surrounded by beauty and people who loved her.**

**May we all be so lucky when our time comes.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Breaking rules**

Elizabeth, Empress of Orokin, was reeling as the Wisp warframe that contained the soul of her one time nemesis and now almost friend vaporized. The small form of the being who had appeared as a young and very insane version of herself also vanished, with a huge dark brown egg shaped thing taking that being's place as Catherine stopped her and died doing it. Nia Korr bowed her head and vanished, but not before the Empress saw tears start to fall. Bladeborn were many things, they were not heartless. The music stopped and the Horsemen all vanished as well.

"She-" One of the beings who surrounded the Empress stammered. Several had been needed to keep her from rushing to Catherine's aid. This one who looked almost normal except for the small stick she held in hand aimed at the egg. A wand? She looked almost like Eliza had as a teenager, all bumbly curves and gangly edges that she clearly wasn't sure where they lay. She sounded and her face looked like all the others who had human form. Like the Empress. Only the wide and almost wicked looking hat on her head was clearly not of Empress Eliza's universe. Nor was the emblem on her school uniform. The Empress was sure she should know what 'Hogwarts' was, but right now? She couldn't have cared _less_. The girl with her face sounded stunned. "What did she do?"

"As always when she was not a slave, Catherine Gata did her duty as Royal Guard." The Empress said in a low, dangerous voice as she spun to the pair of beings who had caused this. "You!" She snarled at the pair of dragons. "_YOU DID THIS!_"

Her voice was low, but rumbled the whole room. It was not a scream. It was worse! Everyone staggered but her and she acted. Her rifle came to her hand as always, the Vectis Prime humming as she chambered a round and primed it to full power. Everyone moved away from the pair of dragons as she took aim at the female dragon's human shaped skull. Both of them froze. At this range, she didn't need a scope. _Everyone_ stilled as the Empress and her rifle both started to glow with fell power. Dangerous power. Even such powerful beings as the wardens of reality stepped carefully around her for good reason. She had been trained to kill extra-reality intruders during her time with the Tenno after she had recovered. Sun had worked hard to find her a role she was suited for and when her powers had manifested? He had helped her as only a master Tenno could. She had repaid the favors he had given her many times over and they respected each other greatly even now. Sera moved to her side, but did not block her shot. From her own warframe's quivers, she was just as furious, but she was obeying her mother's last command. She was warding the Empress, her mother's Glaive-like sword in hand.

"Give me a reason to pull this trigger, you lying pile of _fewmets!_" The Empress' voice was calmer, but only just. "If I kill you here, you are _not_ coming _back_."

This place was outside of time and space. Far outside. It was really the only place that the Empress knew of in _any_ reality that the wardens could not easily reach. The fact that it had never been left undefended had also kept them from prying too far into it. The Empress had done a stint of defending it herself once, long ago.

"Another lie from a liar." Helen snapped from where she stood, surrounded by angry forms but the Empress did not shift her aim. She did not look away from her enemies.

"What did you just say, Helen? What? Oh no! _No one_ _move!_" A firm female voice sounded and the Lotus appeared nearby in her armored human form but without her helmet, her visible face pale with worry. "Eliza?" She stared around and then frowned. "Um… _My_ Eliza, that is?" She asked weakly when everyone looked at her.

"Get out of here, Rebekah." The Empress snarled as she took up slack on the trigger with her middle finger as always. The rifle's action was a hair trigger and the action would break with the slightest twitch. "You are not supposed to be here."

"And you _are?_" The Lotus asked as she stepped towards the furious Empress. She shook her head. "Eliza, Empress Elizabeth… Where is-? Oh no." She gasped as she looked around and horrified realization dawned as she did not see Cathi Gata. "Oh no. No! She _didn't!_"

"She did her duty, Rebekah!" The Empress' vision was blurring, but she sternly ordered her body to obey and her vision cleared as her implants stopped the flow from her tear ducts. "She stopped the mad one. The one these scum made." She glared at the dragons, neither of whom had moved at all.

"Empress..." The Lotus slumped, but then gave herself a shake. "You are needed."

"Go away, Rebekah!" The Empress snapped. "They will try to take me and I am done being nice to them! I will kill them and I will _finish_ it this time!"

"Kill?" A soft, scared voice sounded and a very small humanoid form stepped into view. It too had Eliza's face, but it was half her size and wore no boots. She had hairy feet. The female Hobbit shook her head. "They are wardens. You cannot kill them." She paused as the Lotus winced. "Can she?" The small being asked carefully.

"I wouldn't bet on it. She very nearly killed _me._" The Lotus said quietly. "She has hurt them before. I bet she can. She was trained to kill all manner of beings by the absolute best."

"There is a lot you didn't tell us, Empress." A small striped cat stepped into view. She too had Eliza's voice.

"There is a lot she has to keep secret." The Lotus said for the Empress who did not look away from the dragons. "Empress Eliza, Falcon is dying."

"What?" The Empress jerked and very nearly pulled the trigger by accident. She shifted her finger away from it slightly but she did not look away from the dragons who still did not move.

"I do not know what happened. Mother thinks it was something the Prison did somehow. Delayed." The Lotus said sadly. "If… I hoped Cathi Gata could help her, but if she is gone, then all we can do is mourn." The blue armored woman bowed her head. "I am sorry. She was a good soul, Cathi Gata was."

"Most of the time." Empress Eliza said slowly. "I..." She took a long, slow breath and slowly retracted her finger from the trigger of her rifle. She laid her finger against the trigger guard, still ready to fire. When she spoke, it was calm, clear and matter of fact. Also _terrifying_. Her power faded, but no one relaxed. "If I see either of you again, I will shoot. I will not ask questions. I will not make demands. I will simply shoot. You have hurt my family and friends for the _last time__!_" Her gaze spun to Helen who did not flinch under the Empress' glare. Either fear or stupidity. "And as for _you?_ You are going with _them_. I am sure _they_ have a use for a backstabbing little witch like you. If _I_ ever see you or sense your energy in my domains again, Catherine's daughter or no, _family_ or no, I will _find you_ and I will make your end memorable."

"You don't scare me!" Helen snarled, only to have _everyone_ facepalm in unison, even the dragons! "What?"

"We all know you are a fool now, Helen." The Lotus said with a heartfelt groan. "You do not need to keep _proving_ it. The _last_ time she said that to a Tenno? He took a _year_ to die. Admittedly, he _earned_ that." She looked at Eliza. "I do not want to _know_ where you got that _nasty_ energy parasite. The one that paralyzed him and then slowly destroyed his energy bit by bit."

"No, you don't." Eliza agreed. She did not banish her rifle but she did lower it. "Take her and go, wardens. You are not welcome here and neither is she. In memory of Catherine, I will let you _leave_, but when next we meet? One of us _dies_."

"We do not want to be enemies, Liza." The male dragon tried, but the Empress was having none of it.

"Tough shit. We are." The Empress replied and more than one person winced as she turned her back on him to stride to where the Lotus stood, clearly worried. Sera stayed between her and the dragons, blade still up and ready. "Falcon?"

"Fading." The Lotus said sadly. "Tanah has her, but she hasn't got long. Mother did what she could, but it wasn't enough."

"Liza! We can help!" Will tried again, but she ignored him and he slumped. "I am truly sorry, Liza. I liked Catherine. Come along, girl."

"_I am not going_-" Helen broke off with a short, sharp scream as she vanished along with the female dragon in a flash of dark green energy.

"You won't see her again." Will promised. "I… I heard what Catherine said. We will look for her boys, Liza. I swear that on my name and honor."

"The one you just took is not family." The Empress kept her back to him! "Touch my family again and I _will_ hunt and kill any of you I can anywhere I sense you."

"You are so much better than me, Liza." The dragon said sadly. "In your place? I would have pulled the trigger." Then he was gone.

"How many times?" The Lotus asked and the Empress looked at her. "I bet they know."

"We keep her secrets." A tall, thin _tree_ said sternly in Eliza's voice as it/she stepped forward. "We heard. _We_ will seek her children, Empress." Every one of the assorted beings who were and were not Eliza nodded at that. "Do what you must."

"Thank you." Eliza sighed as a familiar palomino horse pushed forward and to her side. He nuzzled her and she smiled a bit sadly. "I never want to leave, but I always have to. This place feels more like home that home does. It always has. It always will." She turned to the egg. "I um… I don't know what will hatch. Keep me informed?" She begged and all of the others nodded.

"We will." The white horse from before appeared and moved to stand by the Lotus. "Do you need a ride?" She asked kindly.

"It would be appreciated." The Lotus said softly. "Getting here was extremely unpleasant. Did you _have_ to build this place in a black hole?" She complained as she mounted and Empress Eliza did as well. Somehow, Sera was on the palomino with the Empress, but not.

"Yes, we did." The Empress shrugged. "It was meant as a home and/or prison for the insane one, but it couldn't hold her. Nothing could until Catherine." Grief welled up and she forced it back with the skill of long practice. "We use it as a meeting ground. One the wardens cannot touch."

"But, they have been here." The Lotus said slowly as the horses started off and were almost instantly running on a familiar rainbow. Sera was with them. She was sort of flying and sort of riding and sort of doing something that was hard to define. She was with them.

"They have before and every time they appear, we move the rainbow. They won't be able to get back in unless brought." The female horse underneath her said sternly and the Lotus nodded.

"I guess that makes as much sense as any of this does." The non-human female said with a sigh. "Empress? How bad?"

"I can cope." The Empress replied. "I am angry. I am sad, but I can cope."

"That is not what I _asked_, _Empress_ _Elizabeth_." The Lotus replied, clearly working for calm and nearly succeeding. She loved the Tenno, all of them, and losing any of them hurt. She also loved Eliza, as exaperating as the human proved on occasion. "How _bad?_"

"Bad." The Empress sighed. "I am functional, but just barely. Catherine is gone. I wanted…" She shook her head. "Something? She and I talked. Nothing more. Jesse expected that we would do more, but the girl has the common sense of a gnat at times."

"Jesse? _Common sense?_ Empress, that is an insult to _gnats!_" The Lotus said primly and everyone laughed. The Empress' laugh was more than bit bitter, but it was a laugh. "She may have meant well, but she did not think it through."

"No. I hated Catherine for too long and she was Guard." The Empress said sadly as they rapidly approached a dot that swelled into a red planet. Mars. "After she was freed? She always had to be ready to stop me. Any relationship we formed would have been strictly professional. She would not have allowed it become anything more."

"Don't tell me you were not tempted." The Lotus said as the horses carried them into Mars' atmosphere and towards a huge extinct volcano. "Even without being changed back to what she had once been, she was beautiful."

"She would not have taken it well after what my mother did to her." The Empress sighed as the odd group flew through huge white walls into Brianna's Tower. "Yes, I was tempted. No, I did not give in. I am glad I did not. I do not wish to sully my knight's memory with lusts."

"We will remember her." The white horse promised and the Empress nodded her thanks as they slowed and stopped in a familiar virtual room. The one the Empress and Cathi had talked in. "She did what we could not. Ended the mad one's suffering. If we can aid, you have but to ask."

"Thank you." The Empress dismounted into the virtual room and the Lotus did as well. An alarm started blaring and both horses vanished as Eliza spoke to thin air. "Jesse! Can it! You will await my displeasure."

A startled gasp game from nowhere, but Eliza took hold of the Lotus' hand and suddenly, they were in an Orokin room that seemed filled to bursting with Royal Guard warframes, some of which looked very worse for wear. Eliza sat up on the bed she had been sleeping on and looked around. The Lotus stood beside her, holding her hand and Sera appeared nearby, her posture wary as several Royal Guard warframes took aim at her. She held Catherine's sword and did not move as they motioned her away from the Empress.

"Stand down." Eliza said as she rose from the bed to stand by Sera who did not move, ready to defend herself. "She is not a threat, Guards. This is Catherine's daughter, Sera. My _niece_. Stand _down_." The Empress' growl was pure menace and every guard stared at her wary. Lilly stepped forward, her posture worried. "I am myself, Lilly, but I am _very_ angry." Eliza said in a very quiet voice.

"Cathi Gata… She vanished from where she lay. Her weapon vanished when you picked it up and then so did she!" Lilly said weakly. "She..."

"There is much that must remain secret, but I can say that there was an insane version of me." Eliza bowed her head as Lilly gasped. "_Catherine Gata_ saw that and did her duty. Outcast or no, she did her duty as a Guard. As does her _daughter_. Stand! _DOWN!_" The quiet growl now shook the very walls as Eliza reached back and drew her rife out of its storage place in subspace. "_Now._"

The sheer threat in Eliza's tone had almost everyone taking a step back, but Sera and the Lotus moved back to the Empress' side before anyone else did.

"Empress." Lilly shook her head and then sighed. When she spoke it was to Sera. "You don't talk, do you?" Sera shook her head and the Guard Nova sighed again. "I see. We will need to discuss this somehow, but that can wait. We need to try and keep the Empress calm. No one likes her when she gets angry."

"At least I don't turn green." Eliza said as Sera nodded. More than one of the Guards scoffed at that as Brianna Executor swept into the room and froze on seeing the tableau. Eliza nodded to her. "Brianna Executor."

"Empress?" The Orokin female asked slowly. "What happened? Where is Cathi Gata?"

"That is a long story and her clan deserve to hear it first." Eliza bowed her head and her rifle vanished back to its storage area. "But right now, I need to see if I can help Falcon."

"I can't." Brianna was nearly in tears and Eliza stepped to her side, pulling the disconsolate Orokin into a hug. "I tried."

"I have options you don't." Eliza reassured her. "Maybe I cannot help her either, but I have to try."

"She is… She is in the next room." Brianna did not move as Sera moved to pace the Empress and Lilly did as well. The Lotus stepped to join the group and shook her head as Brianna eyed the pair of Nova warframes. "She is sad, but she is so resigned now. She has never been violent that I have seen."

"Never by choice, no." The Lotus said very quietly. "Falcon knows only too well the consequences of violence. She would fight if needed to protect her loved ones, but she was never violent for its own sake like Hunhow is."

"Another innocent soul that my family has tried to destroy." Eliza shook her head.. "No. I will not allow this." Everyone shied away from the sheer emotion in her voice as she started for the door. Rage. Pain. Grief. Hopelessness. Terror. Sadness. Loss. All these and so much more.

"Eliza!" The Lotus begged as she and the others followed the Empress. "Don't! She will never forgive me if I let you come to harm!"

Eliza ignored her as she strode into the next room. She saw Falcon's Revenant warframe laid out on a table with a familiar blue Sentient hovering nearby. Tanah was pulsing in grief as the energy from the warframe faded. His energy core spun to face her and he seemed to freeze in mid-air.

"No." Eliza said very softly as she strode towards the table. "I will _not_ allow this! Falcon! _Wake up!_"

That was not a suggestion as the Empress walked up to the table and Tanah slid away from her a little, wary. The Revenant warframe jerked but no sound came from it as its head turned a little to look at the Empress, but then lay back.

_Empress?_ Tanah inquired carefully as Lilly and Sera both moved to flank her.

Empress Eliza laid her hand on the warframe and she could feel Falcon's sadness, the sort of Sentient being's resignation. Acceptance of hwr fate. Eliza _refused_ to accept it.

"Hold tight, girl. I know what caused this. I cannot help you, but I know someone who _can_." The Empress turned to Tanah who seemed to freeze in mid-air. "You. Will. Say. Nothing."

_I… Empress..._ Tanah jerked as Eliza growled at him.

"You are her next of kin, Rebekah. You need to come with me. Sera won't leave my side and I bet Lilly won't either." Eliza laid both hands of the Revenant now and her power answered her. "No one else."

"Empress..." The Lotus groaned. "Don't make a mess. She won't forgive us if we make a mess for her sake!"

"I won't." Eliza promised as power wafted from her to settle on the stricken Revenant. She nodded to the three she had named and each stepped forward to touch her arms and take each others' hands.

_What do I tell Brianna Executor?_ Tanah begged as his boss stepped into the room, her face ashen at the power that Eliza was showing now. Was it shading to yellow? It _was!_

"I am saving Falcon." Eliza said into the utter silence that greeted her power altering. "We will be right back."

Then she cast herself and her companions into the rifts between reality, crying out with her mind as she did.

_LADY! Help!_


	23. Chapter 23

**Scum**

There was no answer to Eliza's call and she called again.

_You told me never to come back, but an innocent soul needs help. My family hurt her! Not for me! For __her!__ Help, please?_

The was no warning as incredible power grabbed hold of all of them and pulled them into another reality. The power was yellow. Then, they stood on a metal deck. The walls around them were metal. Odd. High tech, but not. Shiny nanotech mixed with incredibly primitive decorations. A symbol shone in places, but the writing on it was hard to make out. Something about '-gilo conf-'? It was crowded with boxes and what looked like military supplies. The area they landed in was lit, the rest of it was dark.

"You move, you die." A cold, clear voice sounded and everyone stared as woman in dark green, formfitting armor stepped into view. The woman had a sword strapped across her back and a shotgun like weapon in her hands that looked far too sleek and far too alien to be of human manufacture. Was that a _baseball cap_ on her head over the odd visor thing that shielded her face? "She won't talk to you. She warned you not to come back if you betrayed us. Which is what you _did_."

"Colonel? Oh no. I..." Eliza held out empty hands as Falcon's warframe fell to the deck to lie still. "I surrender."

"You did _not_ just say that, you lying piece of scum!" The woman snapped as she took aim at Eliza. Sera and Lilly both bristled, but Eliza shook her head.

"Stand down, the both of you. I earned her wrath and the Lady's." Eliza said softly. "Falcon is the important one here. Not me."

"You left us to _die_." The one she called Colonel said with a growl that matched Eliza's previous anger!

"I couldn't stay here, Colonel!" Eliza all but begged. "I tried to leave you a way out! I did! It didn't work?" She begged.

"No." The Colonel all but threw that word at Eliza. "It _didn't_ work. You promised us help and it did not come! You left us to _die_."

"If they didn't come, then yes." Eliza bowed her head. "Yes, I did." She looked away. "Do with me what you will, Colonel, but this one is innocent. The Lady can save her from my family's evil. I cannot. My own self, my own fate is meaningless."

"She won't talk to you." The Colonel snarled. "Go away! Fade out! Do whatever the hell you do. You are a liar. It is what you do."

"It wasn't a lie, Colonel." Eliza slowly sank to her knees beside the still Revenant. "I did want to help. I did help."

"Yeah." The Colonel snort. "The mission was done. It just cost us_ five lives_. You earned our trust and then stabbed us in the back. You got what you wanted and then left us hanging. Well done. Go away." Madness shone in her eyes as she took careful aim at Eliza. Both warframe bristled, but the Lotus spoke first.

"What did she do?" The Lotus asked. The Colonel did not move, did not shift her aim. "I know this woman well. She can be incredibly pragmatic, but that does not sound like her usual methods. What happened?"

"I needed access to a file that was buried inside a heavily fortified base." Eliza said very softly. "I couldn't ghost in. The defenses were too strong. I needed help. I sought the help. _They_ needed something from the base too, so I suggested we work together. We did. The mission went bad."

"I will say! You cost Jack and Aroa their lives. My two didn't make it either. Only _I_ got out and just barely." The Colonel snapped and Eliza bowed her head. "Alley will rip you to pieces slowly if she sees you. The rest of the nest likewise!"

"You had the information! The cure!" Eliza begged. "I knew you did! We got it! I left you all a way out! Why didn't you extract?"

"WE WAITED FOR _YOU!_" The colonel screamed that. "We were not going to leave you behind! And instead? _You left us!_" She calmed a little. "You left us hanging. We waited until the extraction absolutely had to go and then Jack was hit. Killed instantly. Aroa would not leave him and then _she_ was hit and we could not leave _her!_ We missed our extraction and you are the cause-"

"That is not what happened." Eliza interrupted her very softly and the Colonel scoffed.

"I was there!" The Colonel said with a growl and then she gasped as the world shifted. "What are you _doing?_"

"Eliza! No!" The Lotus cried as the world shifted to a different place. "Don't! That is not allowed!"

"I made a save. All of the settings." Eliza said softly. "I feared what would happen. I liked Jack and Aroa. I cannot save Falcon. Perhaps the Lady can. I _can_ save _them_."

"What are you _doing?_" The Colonel demanded as she faded but then solidified. She looked a little less angry. "What?"

"_Eliza!_ You _cannot_ save scum this!" The Lotus all but screamed. "It is too much even for _you!_"

"Watch me." Eliza snapped as she shifted and suddenly, she wore armor just like the Colonel's who had frozen in place, the human woman's face mix of shock, fear and rage. "Colonel? What you remember is not accurate." Eliza asked as their surroundings morphed into what was clearly a fortified area. It had seen heavy fighting. Blast zones shone all around as well as small fires that burned fitfully. There were several forms scattered about the area, most in cover. None were human. "I was hit, bad. I couldn't get back to you. I had to extract my way and I barely made it. The mission was done. I hoped you lot would flee when the time came. But the Lady's wrath said you didn't. I cannot fix much, but I _can_ fix _this_. Save has been loaded." She shook her head as a human form staggered into the area. Eliza. Younger, hurt. She fell to one knee as several of the non-human forms shot at her and two connected. The young Eliza wavered and vanished, but then the older Eliza snarled "Not! This! Time!"

"_ELIZA! NO!_" The Lotus screamed as the present Eliza shifted and was suddenly where the past one had been! She rose to her feet, wavering as more fire sought her. Shots came from the surrounding area as Eliza took hit after hit. She had an odd looking pistol in hand and she fired back, connecting to a hulking mass that fell to lie still.

"ELIZABETH!" Came a scream from the Colonel, but it wasn't the one who was watching! Shots heralded screams from all around as the woman dashed at a non-human form clustered with two others. Three sword strikes and three dead non-humans later, she knelt in cover a bit closer to Eliza's fallen form. Still out of reach and the open area was a kill zone. "Hold tight! We are coming!"

"Colonel Kelly! EXTRACT!" The Eliza in their view screamed as she fell to lie still. "Please..." She begged as she collapsed. "I can get out any time! You can't! Please! Go!"

"We are not leaving you!" What had to be the Colonel in the past screamed as heavy fire sought her position and she hunkered down to weather the storm. Other fire was coming from the shadows, taking out non-human after non-human, but here were so _many_ of them. At least twenty clearly non human forms were in view and from the sounds nearby? More were coming.

"The mission comes _first! __Extract!_" Eliza shouted as two more shots connected. "Save… Save Milodi! I am done." She fell to lie still. An arm jerked and something flew to land next to the Colonel who reached out and grabbed it before running back to cover. Only _then_ did the fallen Eliza waver and vanish.

"_ELIZABETH!_" The Colonel in the past screamed with the one who was watching and then Eliza lay on the floor before the previously furious woman who stared at her, shocked. Was the Empress breathing? Lilly and Sera started forward, but the Lotus shook her head and they froze, unsure.

"What did she do?" The Colonel in this time all but begged as the scene around them wavered.

"She _cheated_." The Lotus said flatly. "It is what she _does_. But this… Elizabeth, you _idiot!_" The blue armored woman knelt down by the fallen Empress and laid a hand on the woman's chest. "Damn it, Elizabeth, not like this! If you die, Falcon probably will to. And then, how do we get _back?_" She demanded as blue power slammed into the fallen human woman who coughed and then screamed weakly.

"Damn, that hurts, Rebekah!" The Empress was trying for anger, but she only managed a groan.

"Then don't make me do it, you silly human!" The Lotus snapped, patience clearly fled. "There are limits to even your idiocy, woman. Do I have to spank you?"

"What just happened?" The Colonel demanded, her weapon down now as she stared from Elizabeth to the Lotus and back.

"As soon as the timelines reintegrate, you won't remember the bad outcome." Eliza gasped in pain as the Lotus hit her with power again. "Damn it, Rebekah! Are you trying to kill me?"

"Only when you try to kill yourself save scumming." The Lotus snapped right back. "You cannot do that much! How long ago was that?" She demanded of the Colonel who stared at her. "How _long?_"

"A day and half." The Colonel said weakly as the Lotus heaved an all too human sigh. "Um… What did she do?"

"She does _dumb shit_." The Lotus actually cursed and everyone stared at her. "I don't pretend to understand all of what she does. The gist is, she _cheats_."

"It works!" Eliza batted the Lotus' hand away was the world wavered around them and the Colonel vanished from where she had been. "They can help Falcon."

"And if you kill yourself? What then?" The Lotus repeated angrily. "You cannot _do_ things like that! You have people counting on you!"

"_They_ were counting on me and I failed them." Eliza said softly as the world solidified into another room. This one was brighter, cheerier. The walls were green metal, but just as odd as before. Nanotech with children's art scattered in places. It _also_ had two long, thin forms who jerked as the odd quintet shimmered into being in front of them. Neither were human.

"What the-?" A startled female voice came from one of the _snakes with arms_ that jerked back as the three warframes, the Lotus and Elizabeth finished materializing. "What? _Elizabeth?_" She started forward, but the other grabbed her and held her back. "Arisha! She is hurt! Let go!"

"They are _armed_." The one called Arisha snapped as an alarm started to blare. Was she starting to_ glow?_

"Lower… Lower your weapons." Elizabeth commanded weakly and both standing warfames shook their heads in unison. "Lilly! Sera! Lower your weapons! Maybe Alley can help Falcon. Maybe. If not, the Lady can." She coughed wetly and the Lotus snarled, laying her hand on the hurt woman's chest. "Don't… Don't let Alley heal me!" She begged the glowing Viper. "It will kill her and she is needed!" She gave a soft scream was the Lotus' hand flared with energy.

"What are you doing?" The snake woman named Alley demanded.

"I am sealing the hemorrhages she causes when she does far too much with her abilities." The Lotus replied coldly. "_Idiot human!_"

"I am glad I am not the _only_ one who feels that way about her." Everything seemed to stop as a huge yellow form simply appeared, hovering in mid-air. Both warfames raised their weapons, but Eliza managed speech.

"Sera! Lilly! Lower your weapons. You cannot hurt her, and she _can_ kill you!" Eliza pleaded. "Lady! Please? Do not take offense. They are detailed to guard me."

"Guards? And they _let_ you do this?" The yellow form asked, her tone halfway between amused and irritated.

"There is no 'let' about it. If I _could_ have stopped her, I _would_ have." Lilly was just as irritated of not more. "She gets an idea in her head and _no one_ can stop her. Trying gets people hurt." Sera nodded, her own posture wary.

"That she does." Now the hovering yellow form was totally amused. Then she sighed. "I told you not to come back, Elizabeth."

"My family hurt this one." Elizabeth waved a feeble hand at the fallen Revenant. "She is energy, not flesh. I can't help her. No one where I come from can. Not for me! For her!" The Lotus slapped her hand back down and the hurt woman growled, but it was more angry kitten now than Empress. "Rebekah!"

"Lie there and shut up!" The Lotus snapped. "Or I _will_ gag you!" A startled laugh came from both snake women and the hovering yellow alien seemed decidedly amused now. "You _knew_ that was too much and you did it _anyway_. _You_ brought us here. _You_ scared the _crap_ out of me again so _you_ get to suffer while I fix you."

"You are not human any more than I am." The hovering form said slowly. "Elizabeth is human, if _crazy_." Sera, Lilly and the Lotus all nodded emphatically at that. "Yet, you act as if she is family. I know that she is more than than she said and she is _well_ more than a bit pigheaded, but…" She trailed off as the Lotus sighed deeply. "Do I want to _know?_" She all but pleaded.

"Probably not." The Lotus replied. "You know what she does, don't you?"

"Our entire reality just rang like a bell. _Again!_" The yellow alien said sourly. "Yes, I know what she does. Luckily few in this reality can sense such disruptions. Those few are incredibly dangerous and will be looking for the disruption." The snake women stilled and the hovering alien sighed. "Alley, Arisha, both of you have held secrets. Some for me, some for your nest. I can take these memories from you. It would be safer for the both of you."

"I do not remember the word 'safe' anywhere in my job description, Lady." The snake with arms named Alley said slowly. She slithered forward and the other paced her as Sera and Lilly lowered their weapons. "How badly is Elizabeth hurt?"

"_NO!_" Elizabeth tried to pull away, but the Lotus held her down effortlessly. "Alley! No!"

"She has micro-hemorrhages across much of her brain structure." The Lotus said quietly as she made a space beside the fallen Empress for the snake. "Every time she does that, it hurts her. That is not a human ability and she doesn't care. She knows not to do that much and she does it anyway." She snarled at Eliza. "_Idiot_ human!"

"On that, we can agree." Alley smiled a little as she laid a thin hand on the hurt Empress' brow and then hissed. "Wow. That is a lot."

"Alley!" Elizabeth begged but then she fell limp. "Don't!"

"Don't fight the paralytic, Elizabeth. I know I would kill myself if I tried to heal all of this at one go. I _do_ know that, so I won't." Alley reassured the Empress and the others relaxed a little. "I may not _have_ to. This damage is healing far faster than a normal human would." She mused and the Lotus nodded, her face stony. "She needs rest now more than anything."

"She won't stay in the _bed!_" The Lotus and Lilly chorused, but Alley smiled. It was not a nice smile.

"Oh _yes_, she _will_." The snake flared with power and the Empress' eyes closed. "Rest now, Elizabeth. We have you." She looked at the others who were watching her warily. "One of the first things I learned was sedatives. I know all _kinds_ of people who _love_ to push themselves as _far_ past their limits as possible. It gets somewhat irritating patching the same fools up." At that, the Lotus nodded, face severe. "She will sleep until I let her wake up. That will _not_ be less than eight Earth standard hours." Alley warned. "She needs it."

"That she does." The Lotus retracted her hand carefully and then paused when Alley laid a hand on hers. "Um..."

"You are hurting." Alley said sadly. "You are not a machine, but you are not flesh either. I can't help you, can I?"

"I am an unholy mix of both." The Lotus replied. "I self repair, but yes. It does hurt. Especially when I watch my loved ones hurt themselves and can do nothing."

"Love hurts, true." Alley gave the Lotus' arm a squeeze and released her. "Lady?" She asked the hovering yellow form who was eyeing the fallen Revenant. "Whatever Elizabeth has done, she did it for this one." Alley moved to the Revenant, laid a hand on it and shook her head. "I cannot help this one either."

"Alley..." The yellow alien called Lady made a noise that half moan, half groan and _all_ exasperated. "You are going to insist, aren't you?" She asked sourly. Alley nodded and the yellow form scoffed. "Your nest are all nuts! _Always_ the hard way."

"Always." Alley turned to her companion who had been watching this all with wide eyes. "Arisha? I have directed the facility's drones to prepare a private berth for Elizabeth. One that her guards can secure. Let the others know we have guests who are not to be pestered."

"You know what that will make the kids do!" The other snake woman said with a moan.

"Yes, I know it will make them curious and harder to keep them out of whatever ward I secure." Alley replied. "Look at it this way. It is good training." She smirked as Arisha growled at her. "Good training' was a fairly common military euphemism for 'You are really not going to like this'. Otherwise known as 'sanctioned torture' or 'organized sadism'. 'The more you bleed in training, the less you bleed in war' and all that. Never fun for those involved.

"I hate you."

Both of the warframes shook their heads at the byplay, but the Lotus was frowning.

"Elizabeth should not have done this. It will cause all kinds for problems, won't it?" The blue armored not-human asked the hovering yellow form.

"Probably." The Lady heaved a sigh. "But if you know Elizabeth and from your words, you know her well? She gets an idea in her head and get the hell out of her way."

"Yeah. The idiot human does." The Lotus slumped. "Can you help Falcon?" She begged. "She is my daughter."

"Adopted." Not a question.

"Loved." The Lotus said softly and the Lady made a noise of consternation. "My Mother always loved the broken ones the best and I love Falcon. She did something incredibly brave and incredibly _stupid_. I thought all I could do was mourn her and Elizabeth brought us here. I can tell Elizabeth has wronged you, but… My daughter is dying. I do not know what to do." Admitting that clearly cost her.

"Wronged us? No. She made a hell of mess. I do not know if I can help your daughter or not, Rebekah, was it?" The Lady replied and the Lotus nodded. "I will do what I can. Such love is hard to deny." Was she _crying _softly?

"If you can't, I won't blame you." The Lotus promised. "This was a long shot at best."

"Betting on long odds is what we who are called to lead do." The Lady replied and turned her hovering form to Alley who nodded. "I will be in touch, Alley."

"I am only a thought away." Alley reassured the other who vanished. The snake woman gave herself a shake from the tip if her tail to the top of her crest. "Let's get Elizabeth and your daughter somewhere secure and then we can talk. You know Elizabeth very well it seems."

"A bit _too_ well." The Lotus groused and Alley matched her tone.

"I know the feeling."

* * *

**For those who may not know, 'save scumming' is a tactic in single player games where a player makes a save game right before something important. Be it a story choice or battle or virtually anything else, the save allows many different choices to be tried and then if the player does not like the results of said choice, the save is loaded and everything is reset to try again. The original X-Com was a prime example of a game that was easy to abuse with such. Get a bad roll to hit, bad enemy placement, or a bad map? Load a save. **

**If that sounds familiar, there is a good reason for that. Empress Eliza does such naturally. Her ability to walk between realities gave her the ability to save scum realities. She literally resets a reality if she has time to set a save. It makes her a terrifying opponent because she can literally do anything and redo any result that she does not like. Within reason. After a set period of time, she is unable to go back and restore saves. It also hurts her very badly, with longer or more complex changes having cascading effects. Very few people realize she does this. The wardens do, hence why they are so wary of her. She shot Raviine and Will three times when they tried to calm her down after Catherine died. She did not like the results, so she reset the save and tried again.**

**There are strict limits to her power, as we shall see. Within those limits? Empress Eliza is almost as much of a goddess as the Creator is. This makes a LOT of people VERY nervous.  
**


	24. Chapter 24

**The ties that bind**

The Lotus sat beside Eliza's bed, her face somber as she watched her friend sleep.

"Um, Ma'am? Rebekah? You are needed." A quiet voice pulled the blue armored woman out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Lilly at the door, barring the way for one of the snake women form before. Arisha was not worried, not really. Lilly wasn't being forceful and if anything, the snake woman understood the problem. Sera was outside the door and had let her in, so, clearly there was no threat. She and the other snake clearly knew Elizabeth. Good _and_ bad."She won't wake up for several more hours. Alley is good with such things."

"No offense to Alley, but if I am not here when she wakes, Elizabeth will do something dumb." The Lotus said sourly, but softly so as not to disturb Eliza's sleep.

"She will do that _anyway_." Lilly groused and the Lotus bit back a chuckle as the snake woman stared at the Guard. "She may be our Empress, but the woman has no quit in her and no _sense_ sometimes."

"She is determined not to be her forebears." The Lotus reached out to pat Elizabeth's still hand. Eliza did not react. "She keeps throwing herself into things to prove that she is not her mother or father. We all know she is not, but she refuses to accept it. She _cannot_ accept it. She snatches any responsibility that she even _thinks_ is hers and holds it until her hands threaten to fall off. She won't let anyone suffer if she can help it."

"That is not a bad thing for regular people, but in a ruler, that is not good." Arisha said softly and the warframe nodded with the Lotus. "She cannot fix it all, no matter how powerful she is."

"No, but she seems bound and determined to kill herself trying." The Lotus said sadly. "She has power that she refuses to use capriciously. That is also good, but when she _does_ use it? It always hurts her. I fear for her." She slumped. "I bet Alley explained what she sensed." The Lotus said as she rose. Arisha nodded. "This is the worst I have seen, but she just refuses to stop. If she _can_ help, she _must_. No matter the cost to herself."

"I know the type." Arisha slithered aside as the Lotus moved to the door. The blue armored woman shared a nod with the Nova Prime clad Royal Guard. They had been together a long time. It took no words for the Lotus to beg Lilly to contact her if anything changed or for Lilly to reassure the Lotus she would. "I have linked the Guards to our com network. If anything happens, we will notified."

"Don't take any chances." The Lotus said as she followed Arisha out of the room, passing Sera who nodded to her. "Eliza brought us here hoping to find help for my daughter. Whatever she may have done here, I don't want to cause any more problems." She snorted a bit. "I have enough of my own."

"Just from what little I have gathered, I bet they are doozies." Arisha said with a nod. The Lotus matched it. "Can you explain why you and a human are working together?"

"Serendipity, I think." The Lotus frowned and then shrugged. "With Eliza, it is hard to say, but she rarely uses the powers she has so blatantly. She is usually far more circumspect."

"Can you say what happened?" Arisha asked. "None of us can tell a difference. But if she can warp reality so cleanly… Even then, we would sense _something_, wouldn't we?" She trailed off as the Lotus sighed. "She can do that?" Arisha asked, fear rising.

"I don't know." The Lotus admitted. "_I_ don't usually sense any difference when I am the subject of her alterations. I only know from careful observation after the fact." She made a face. "_And_ if the crazy woman starts bleeding internally. I do not know all of the specifics of what she does." The blue armored non-human said quietly. "I _do_ know she has a solid core of ethics. She makes mistakes. No thinking race I know of doesn't make mistakes." Arisha nodded. "That said, she takes responsibility for her mistakes and tries to fix them when she can. She made a mistake here. I get that. She fixed it." The Lotus made a face. "And nearly killed herself doing it."

"What mistake could be worth her life?" Arisha asked as she led the way into a larger room. The Lotus followed and only hesitated a moment when she saw Falcon's Revenant warframe laid out on a table with Falcon's energy form lying still beside it. The Lady was hovering beside the table and Alley was coiled up erect beside the yellow alien.

"You don't know Elizabeth." The blue armored non-human said softly.

"Indeed." The Lady said very quietly as she turned to scrutinize the Lotus. "The better question for her is: 'What mistake _wouldn't_ that being suffer for or die to correct if needed?'" The hovering female sighed deeply. "I _can_ help your daughter and I will. But then you have to leave with Elizabeth and never return."

"Will it change her?" The Lotus asked. "Falcon?"

"Likely." The yellow alien said to the blue one as yellow energy fountained over Falcon's till form and she seemed to perk up a little.. "Such damage as she took will almost certainly leave scars in her psyche, if not in her energy. I do not believe the damage was intentional. It seems almost as if whatever hurt her was trying to get her to procreate." She froze as the Lotus did. "_Was it?_" The Lady asked carefully.

"That…should not have been possible." The Lotus said very softly. "My kind and the kind that the evil machinery was intended for are very different. May I approach?"

"She sleeps but the treatment is done. She will recover." The Lady reassured the worried blue armored female. "I promised to help her if I could help her and I have, but now you need to take Elizabeth and go."

"I cannot do what Eliza does." The Lotus said weakly and then froze as a familiar form shimmered into being beside the Lady. The dragon called Will bowed his head. "You."

"We made a lot of mistakes, Rebekah." The dragon said very quietly. "I don't know how many times Liza reset on killing me or Raviine, but eventually, she worked her mad out. She is needed in your reality."

"And I should just trust you?" The Lotus demanded, carefully not moving. She had to be under observation and likely under weapons too. "After you made that that… That_ thing_?" She snapped. The Lady spun to stare at her and the Lotus nodded. "Yes, they made the Prison that hurt my daughter. It nearly killed Eliza and it _did_ kill her chief guard!"

"Catherine is dead? Oh no. _You_ made it?" The Lady inquired of the warden softly. He nodded. "That is _insane._"

"Hindsight. We know that now." Will replied. "Then? We didn't. Liza's ancestors breached the barrier. I lost two kin closing that breach. Gone permanently. After we cleaned up the mess, they set up safeguards, wards and guardians of their own, of which Liza became one if not in any normal way."

"Eliza? _Normal?_" The Lotus scoffed and the Lady matched her scorn. "Not possible."

"No. Liza is anything but normal." The dragon smiled sadly as Alley relaxed just a little beside Falcon as the sentient energy form seemed to glow brighter. "I had forgotten how much it hurts to fail those I love. I do love Liza and she will kill me if she sees me again."

"You are the reason Catherine is dead." The Lotus said with a growl.

"You of _all people_ know that death is not the end when you walk the paths she and Liza did." The dragon retorted and everyone stilled.

"Don't you dare!" The Lotus' growl was pure 'mechanical angry predator'. "You have hurt her enough!"

"I didn't." The dragon said softly. "Falcon, can you sense her?" Green energy swept form him to touch Falcon's form and she gave a cry as she was bouyed up into the air. All three females moved to block the way between her and the dragon.

"Put her down. Now." The Lotus snapped and the Lady was bare moment behind, saying the same thing. Alley looked at the, shrugged and kept her mouth shut.

"It is not her." Falcon's voice was scared, scared and bemused equally. "I feel a connection, but it isn't Cath- Um... Catherine. It is not the same!"

"It won't be." Will sighed and let Falcon slide back down to the table. "It wasn't us. It wasn't the copies of Liza."

"'Copies'?" The Lady demanded. "Oh, god! There are _more_ of her?" It was hard to say if that was awe or terror in her voice.

"Yes, but none with her exact power set, thank whatever deity you follow." The dragon gave an exaggerated shudder. "The one is _more_ than enough."

"If _you_ didn't do it, and _they_ didn't do it and none of _my kind_ certainly-" The Lotus paused. "Oh no… No..." She groaned.

"Liza _always_ had a plan and multiple backups, mad or no." The dragon replied as the Lady groaned. "That one is no more, but she would _not_ have let Catherine sacrifice herself. You know this, Rebekah. She loved Catherine."

"Did she?" The Lotus asked as the Lady sighed deeply. "You saw what she did! What Helen did!"

"She was not sane, Rebekah, but she _did_ love Catherine." The dragon shook his head. "I do not know where she hid the copy of Catherine's energy, but she did make a copy of her Guard back when she made the first copies of herself. Liza won't trust any of us, but I want no war between us. I will get you home and then, I will find Catherine's energy and bring it to you. You can take it to Liza." He looked past them at Falcon who was pulsing softly now. "All I need is a direction, Falcon. Point me the right way. Give me the chance to make _any_ of this right."

"Why can't you tell?" Falcon demanded. "You have power beyond belief!"

"There are powers far beyond mine. I am only a warden." The dragon said very softly, but hell itself seemed to sing in his tone. "You are _her sister!_ I _will_ save what I can of your sister! Give me a target! _Please!_"

"Don't listen to him, Falcon! He lies!" The Lotus pleaded as Falcon hovered in mid-air, her Sentient form pulsing with yellow power now.

"Not about this." Will bent to one knee. "_Our_ Oracles are all in agreement, a first in my experience. Catherine's energy is still out there. Her _boys_ are still out there! We are looking for them even now. We may not be able to find them, but we _can_ save her and we must or Eliza will likely be lost to the prison of her grief and pain. If she goes mad, none of us will ever be safe. None."

"If there is even a chance to save Catherine, Mom, I have to take it." Falcon said weakly. "But I don't know what to do. This is not like my misadventures. This is unlike anything I have done."

"Falcon?" Alley said quietly when the hovering Sentient made a noise of dismay. "Don't think. Don't focus. Just feel. What do you _feel?_"

"I don't..." Falcon paused and then she gasped. "Cold! Black! Spikes! Black Stone! She is at Black Stone! _Lilith_ has her!"

"Not for long!" The dragon replied coldly. "I should get you all back-" He broke off as Alley and the Lady _both_ started to glow!

"They don't trust you." The Lady said in a mild tone that somehow conveyed danger. "_I_ shouldn't trust you, should I?" She asked.

"Probably not." The dragon admitted. Then he smiled as he rose to his feet. "Liza needs rest anyway. I will be right back."

"What are you going to do?" Arisha spoke up for the first time from where she stood by the door.

"Something _loud._"

* * *

Black Stone, Darksiders Reality

No one dared breathe as the huge form of Lilith's master swept in the fortress, his very presence a palpable taste of horror and evil. In form he looked almost angelic, if one ignored the hellfire that burned in his eyes and the fact that his wings were on upside down. One also would have to try to ignore the demon scale full plate armor her wore that shone almost golden. Almost. He didn't have horns unless he wished them. He didn't need them.

"Where?" The Prince of Hell demanded as he stalked deeper into the fortress. He wasn't furious. That word did not do his emotion justice. "_Where _is she?"

"Master? This is an unexpected plea-" Lilith jerked as something long, thin and red shot from the Prince's hand and wrapped around her throat. It pulled her to him and every single demon in the area froze as he shook his minion like a terrier might a very dead snake.

"Is it?" The being who had as many names as he had faces asked as he shook her again and then dropped her at his feet. "Is it _really?_ Did you really think to hide it? From me perhaps, but not from them. _Where is it?_" He demanded, the anger that seethed within him rising.

"What do you want?" Lilith all but begged as he kicked her down to the floor and then stepped on one of her wings. "I don't understand!"

"If you do not answer me, right now, I will rip _both_ of your wings off and leave you to her mercy." Lilith's master declared. "Would you like a few _million_ years of puppies?" Lilith's eyes bulged and she started to stammer, undone by the sheer horror of that idea. When her master spoke again, it was very quiet and very controlled. "Where is the soul of Catherine Gata?"

"What?" Lilith asked stunned by this sudden change. "I do not-" She screamed as he grabbed her by the wings! As if in preparation of tearing them off one by one. "Master! I do not understand!"

"I just had a visit from someone I detest." The Prince of Hell said in the same quiet and very dangerous voice. "The Creator tore down the _entire front_ of my palace, Lilith. Then her associates got _mean_." Lilith was staring at him, eyes even wider.

The Prince's palace was in the Black City, the demonic counterpart to the angelic White City. If there was single more heavily fortified and defended place in any demonic realm… His words sank in and Lilith moaned. Demons and angels knew each other and detested one another. But there were a few powers far beyond any demon or angel, no matter how strong, skilled or cunning.

The Creator was one of those. If she was angry enough to destroy part of the Prince's palace? Not good.

"I… I don't have it!" Lilith said weakly. "I did! But it is gone!"

"And you didn't bother to inform me of such a threat to every realm I hold?" The Prince said softly, looking around. None of the many minions in the area would meet his gaze. Wise of them, if not very brave. "Why? Did you think to corrupt her? That worked out so well last time. Didn't it?" His sarcasm could have cut through a diamond with no effort at all.

"She said she would leave me in a universe filled with nothing but puppies _forever_ if I told anyone!" Lilith snapped. "No! I wasn't going to betray her! I have _some_ sense!"

"Which 'her', I wonder. The Creator is on her way here with her retinue." The Prince said and Lilith quailed. "If you are lying to me, you will regret it. You are a useful tool, but she is far too powerful to anger and you _have_. If I discover you have lied to me, I will break you and leave you to her." Not a threat. A promise.

"It is not where it was!" Lilith moaned. "I was having the fortress searched when you arrived!"

"That was a lie." A cold voice sounded and everyone stepped back as the Prince of Hell did. A human shape stepped out of nowhere. The warden named Will. He had his hand on his sword but did not draw it. But… Oh boy. Where the Prince was _fury_, the warden was _ice_. Just as angry or more so. "She had it. She knows where it is."

"I _don't_ know where it is now!" Lilith all but begged as her Prince looked at her and then at the warden who frowned.

"A truth?" The Prince inquired and the warden nodded. "I see."

"You know who she gave it to and why. Your plots and politics are _your_ problem. I am trying to save far more than this reality." The warden started for the gate. "I will try to head her off. Or not." He sighed as a massive explosion sounded and Fury of the Horsemen stood there in the huge gaping hole where a massive stone and metal gate just hung. Her hands flashed and the hammer that shone in them vanished. She took a step forward, but the warden shook his head. "She doesn't have it. _They_ do."

"I see." Fury moved to flank him, eyeing the many demons who watched her warily. None of the denizens of the fortress dared move. "Then I guess it is time to go get her back."

"This is my mess, Horseman." The warden said slowly. "And you know they will have precautions in place."

"Perhaps for me." Fury agreed as they started off. "Not for all of us."

"This is my mess." Will all but begged as they took a step, the world shifted and they were suddenly standing in front of a huge tree. The Tree of Life. The other Horsemen stood there, ready. An angel and a demon also stood, wary of each other, but ready. It was the last one that Will bowed to. "Please? Let me help fix my mess?"

"They do not understand." The Creator Eliza was sad, so sad. "I do not think they can or will."

"Then we will _make_ them understand, Creator!" Uriel, leader of the Hellguard, said firmly.

"As loathe as I am to agree with one of her kind, that is the truth." The demon who stood on the other side of the Creator said with a nod. "Just remember, sometimes the hero-" He paused as _everyone_ growled at him.

"Just stop, Samael." The Creator shook her head. "We all know the stakes. If Catherine is corrupted, changed, whatever, Empress Eliza will never be free of her past. She will go mad and _no one_ will be safe. Her reality will fall to her madness. And with it? Countless others. We cannot allow the Plan to fail."

"We _will not_ allow the Plan to fail." Fury said with a growl as she moved to take her place with her brothers. "The Charred Council _will_ surrender Catherine Gata's soul or we will tear it from their decaying forms."

"Let me _try_ talking first." The Creator all but begged and everyone shared a glance. Will sighed but then moved to stand beside her.

"You are not _their_ Creator, Elizabeth." Will said sadly. "They will not listen to you."

"Oh yes, they _will!_" Came from _everyone_ else as the portal built into the Tree opened and the Creator stepped into it. The small army that followed her entered as well. Four Nephilim. One warden. Half a hundred Hellguard, half a hundred demons.

To face an ancient Council. To save a soul.

To save an Empress from herself.


	25. Chapter 25

**Belief**

Lis felt strange.

Was she dreaming? Nikis had promised her that she would not dream in the database and for all of his quirks, the Grandmaster of the Dead was rarely wrong about such things.

So...

She felt…

She was floating in something, but it didn't feel like anything she had ever felt before. Whatever she was in was warm and moved around her like thick soup. She felt heavy, but light. She was…

The Tenno named Lis coughed as she fell out of whatever fluid held her into a place she did not know. Was she falling _up?_ Then she was falling down into a hard surface. Rock. She gasped and stared around at wonder mixed with horror. The room was huge and seemed more like a cavern than a built structure. She had a bare moment to stare at three huge _heads_ before something knocked her to the side just as bolt of energy would have taken her head off! None of the heads were even remotely human looking. A shadow fell over her.

"That is forbidden for a _reason!_" Lis stared up at a human? No. That wasn't a human. The sheer power that radiated from the form was well beyond anything human _or_ Tenno could produce. Whatever he was, he held a sword that was almost a Nikana but not. Its pure steel blade glowed with fell green energy that frankly scared the Tenno. And the voice… "Let her, _them_, go! _Now!_"

Wait a minute! Lis _knew_ that voice! She had heard it once while working with Sara! Many of Amelia's Voices had gone to the Tower when Abigail and Kieko had been so violated, many of them trying to help their peers past their grief and fear. Lis had heard the voice from a stage magician who had come to entertain the kids. His voice was far too deep to be anything human, but he had been kind and gentle to the hurting children. He had worked hard to keep them entertained and the kids had all cried when he had left. Lis could not move as the man who was not one stood over her, his blade parrying bolts of energy that flew from the heads. Were they aimed at him or her?

"Stop this!" Eliza? No! That _wasn't_ the Empress who stood nearby, her form haloed in golden white light. This woman was far older, but showed no fear as she faced something truly alien to Lis' understanding. Lis felt fear rise as the woman held up a hand and the same golden white light shimmered into a shield that encompassed her and Lis. "You will not hold them! You threaten everything!"

_**You do not command!**_ The voice had to be be from one of the heads. It shook the very walls. _**You who stand with traitors and thieves! You do not command.**_

"You go against the Plan!" The woman said with a growl. "You threaten far more than our own reality! Such will not be tolerated!" _That_ was pure Eliza. Totally the woman that Lis knew. So, how was she here and doing…?

Lis screamed as energy hit her from behind and it seemed as if her entire being was being torn in two. The pain faded and then she wasn't alone.

"What?" A very young voice asked as Lis stared up from the ground at a very young female Tenno. The girl was clearly infected, but just as clearly. she was not subsumed by the Technocyte Virus. She was maybe five years old and she was just as confused as Lis was. Then horror dawned with understanding that Lis wished she shared. "This isn't right." She said softly. "Is it?"

"No." Lis said weakly as the girl knelt down beside her. Then she screamed as a bolt of energy hit the girl from behind. She grabbed the girl as the girl fell and then the girl… _Was not a girl!_ It was a little girl and it was Tenno in a Valkyr warframe, but no, a Mirage warframe, but no, a warframe that Lis did not recognize. _All at the same time._ Lis's stomach started doing flip-slops. But the girl gripped her hand, became a little girl again and Lis' stomach subsided.

"I do not know how they got you here, but this is forbidden." The girl/Tenno/whatever-she-was said savagely. "You clearly did not ask to come here and they did something awful to you." She shook her head. "Whatever they plan is not good." She looked at the battle and Lis swallowed as she saw forms straight our of dream _and_ nightmare both swarming around and being batted from the sky by bolts of power. "Oh crap! How are they…?" The girl shook her head as energy flared nearby and the sword wielder was suddenly a huge silver form who charged the energy, roaring. Four human shaped blurs also charged beside him and energy flashed back and forth. "We need help."

"What is going on?" Lis tried to demand that, but her voice was weak. Was she hurt? Sick?

"The Charred Council lost their enforcers a while back." The girl said softly. "They have been struggling to find others who can take that role. They seem to think _you_ will. And _me_."

"Do I know you?" Lis asked as the other eased her a bit.

"Me? No." The girl admitted. "But from what others have said, you knew the Tenno I was copied from." Lis' eyes went huge and the girl nodded with a grimace. "Yes. I know. That is forbidden too. Nikis is going to have a cow. But no one dared stop her. She was crazy and powerful. Not a good combination."

"No." Lis agreed. "Not a good combination at all. Who are you?"

"I am a copy of the energy of a Tenno you knew as Cathi Gata." The girl said sadly. "She is dead. I am all that left of her. I went by the name Catherine when I was alive, so… That will work. I am not her."

"Cathi Gata is dead?" Lis asked, grief coming and the girl nodded. "That is… I want to say that is impossible, but I know it is not."

"The Council won't kill us, they are not that nice. They will likely try to kill and destroy kill anyone else they can." The girl Catherine crouched down beside Lis as energy flared against Eliza's shields that were glowing bright white now. "They created the Horsemen, they likely have ways to destroy them. I can't allow this." A golden blur flew into view to stand by Eliza, the Equinox warframe's Ninkondi flashing here and there. The girl shook her head. "Creator! I cannot allow this! You and they are _needed!_"

"If you fall, your Empress will too!" The woman was straining, it was clear to see, but her face was calm.

"She is stronger than you think." Catherine said with a small, sad smile. "But, you know that. You know what has to happen." The one she called Creator looked at her and Catherine shook her head. "No, no suicidal charges, no final duties. Just faith."

"Faith." The Eliza slowly said as her shields wavered under the onslaught and the Equinox by her side tensed to do something. "No! Wait! Gemina! Stop!"

"Creator! They will kill you!" The Tenno in the warframe protested. Lis stilled. Was that Gemina Horati? Wasn't she an enemy? Lis was so confused.

"Have a little faith." Catherine said very softly. She took both of Lis' hands in her own as the battle nearby reached a fever pitch. "The Council are not omnipotent."

"Nor are they _omniscient_." The Eliza said slowly and then _she_ smiled. "I am such a fool sometimes."

"Everyone is." Catherine reassured her. "Fall back. All of you. This is _our_ fight." The Creator made a motion and the horde both fair and foul who had been besetting the heads without success retreated.

"I can't fight like this." Lis protested. She could barely move in whatever encased her. Some kind of armor?

"You don't have to, Mother." _That wasn't Catherine! _Lis' eyes went huge as _Sara_ appeared beside her. Her adopted daughter was no older than she had been, bu so different now. Calmer, wiser, sadder. She was clad in Corpus attire and hefting a Tetra rifle. Lis' daughter looked up at the monstrosities before her and gave a sniff. "I do not want to do this, I want to end your asses. But I am held to a higher standard now. You have _one_ chance, you monsters. Surrender my mother."

_**You do not give us commands!**_ One of the heads thundered.

"Well, far be it from _me_ to try and save you from a world of hurt." Sara said with a shrug. "You stole my mother. We do not take kindly to that. But we are the _lesser_ of your problems. Because the _Empress_ is awake and she is _pissed_."

"Liza is awake?" The silver dragon was hurt but he was still fighting. "Oh shit!"

"_DO NOT MOVE!_" Sara screamed as the dragon poised to flee. "This place is about to get _really_ crowded!"

Lis jerked as _dozens_ of forms suddenly surrounded her. Some she knew, some she didn't. Some were from Cathi Gata's clan, others were Royal Guard. All of the closest were Tenno in warframes, but that paled beside the woman who stood in their midst, glowing _black_. And then, a pitch black Nekros stepped forward to stand beside her. Nikis had his pistols in hand as Empress Eliza hefted her Vectis Prime rifle. A Nova warframe moved to stand beside the tiny version of Catherine while a Nova Prime moved to ward Sara. Then other things started appearing. Strange things. Some looked sort of human, others were nowhere remotely close. _All_ stood between Lis. Catherine and the three stone heads. Indeed, as Sara had said, the huge cavern was quickly full!

"This was an 'Oops'." Empress Eliza's calm voice seemed to echo into a massive void. "I would let them go. You will not get what you want here, Council."

"_**You will serve!**_" One of the heads thundered.

"No." Eliza replied, seemed calm, but Lis noted her finger was in the trigger guard of her rifle and it was aimed, if not at her shoulder. "I have previous commitments." A minute shrug did not disturb her hands. "And even if I did not? You break the barriers at your peril. I am not from this place."

"_**You were made in this reality! You will serve!**_" The head retorted.

"No." The Empress said softly. "I will not. You have failed." She smiled at the Creator Elizabeth who nodded to her. There was little happiness in her smile, more resignation. "Creator. Thank you, but I can take it from here."

"Don't kill them, please!" The Creator begged. "They are needed! They are not evil, just thwarted!"

"I rarely react well when I am thwarted. I swear I will try not to." The two focal point Elizas shared a nod and then the Empress turned to the heads who seemed to be gawking at her. "Did you really think this was not going be planned for?" She asked, to all appearances, curious. "Lilith is what she is, but she is not stupid! She had little desire to harm the almost six year old me. She had less desire to see her realm torn asunder by my allies or Catherine's, both of which we made sure she knew about. Her Master likewise. Not that he _is_ now her Master, is he?"

"What do you mean?" No one moved as the monstrous form of Lilith's master appeared nearby, but not entirely. Some kind of image projection. Prince of Hell he might be, he wasn't stupid. _This_ congregation of power was daunting to say the least.

"She failed you too many times." The Empress replied, not looking away from the heads who remained still and quiet. "Your methods are not mine, mine are not yours, but one thing remains the same. Rulers cannot allow subordinates who continue to fail to remain in the posts that they are in. We need subordinates who can do their jobs. Whatever those jobs may be. We differ in how we punish such failures, but the fact remains. Subordinates will be replaced if they fail too often." Again, that tiny little shrug that did not touch her hands. "She knew that. She knew that she had failed to stop Fury the same as she had failed to stop Death. She knew you would be very angry and there were many who wanted to usurp her power."

The Horsemen moved to stand in front of the Creator. All seemed a bit the worse for wear, but none were hindered.

"And?" The demon lord of all demon lords said slowly.

"And what is the absolute best kind of spy?" Eliza answered his question with a question as a white Loki Prime warframe stepped out of nowhere to stand beside her. Was he glowing _yellow? _If so, it faded.

"One who cannot _be_ a spy." The Prince of Demons said even more slowly. He shook his beautiful head. "Lilith a spy? I find that difficult to believe."

"Of course." Eliza gave him a nod and he looked at her. "You will make up your own mind. Proof will be given here, but as always, it will be open to interpretation. Your views are not mine, mine are not yours. I ask that you let me and mine handle this."

The projected demon looked around the room, at the myriad strange and fantastical forms that crowded it and then shook his head.

"You do make a good case." He shrugged his massive shoulders. "I _did_ need to remodel my palace any-" He broke off staring at the Creator who met his gaze impassive. "You knew."

"Knew what?" Butter might not have melted in the glowing woman's mouth.

"You knew I was going to remodel my palace." The Prince of Hell was very quiet. Awed? "Didn't you? That is why you destroyed it, wasn't it? The lost lives will be reformed as always, but the rebuilding of such an edifice was going to be both long and expensive to tear it down and rebuild." His mouth fell open. "You blew down my palace to make it easier for me to remodel, didn't you?"

"No comment." Came from the Empress _and_ the Creator!

"Oh..." The demon's opened his mouth, closed it and then he smiled _wide!_ "The Council have _no idea_, do they?" That was to the warden who was back in his human form. Will smirked.

"No. They do not." The dragon moved to one wall where a space was clear form him to lean again it. The demon hologram moved to stand with him.

"I want to watch this!" The demon leaned against the wall and so did the dragon. After a moment, Nikis moved to join them! All three of the incredibly powerful beings were standing there, watching! "Warden. Tenno." The demon allowed and Nikis nodded. When he spoke it was odd. Not worried, more curious and maybe a hint of anticipation. "This is going to be impressive, isn't it?" Both nodded.

"Probably. She is good." Nikis was using the same 'intrigued, not worried' voice. "Maybe the best I have seen."

"Why do you think _we_ wanted her?" The Warden asked, more than a bit snide. "Yes, we liked her, but it was more _self preservation!_ Always plans within plans and plots within plots. You are _not_ going to out-think or out-devious that human." A cough from the Empress drew the attention.

"If the comments from the peanut gallery are done, some of us have work to do." The tone was cold, but the Empress was smiling instead of hostile. All three of the incredibly powerful males nodded to her and she turned back to the three stone heads. "Lilith knew some of the backups that I had in place. She knew some of what Catherine had in place. She had no idea what would happen. She probably didn't want to find out, but you goaded her into it. Into driving the young me insane. Into trying to warp Catherine into a servant of darkness."

"Empress… I..." Catherine said weakly, but Eliza just shook her head.

"It is not your fault or mine, Catherine." Eliza said quietly. "What happened is all on Lilith's head. She imprisoned us both, threw unspeakable amounts of power into me while she warped your body and tried to warp your soul. She could not get a good grasp on your energy however. You were Royal Guard. You never stopped fighting. She could not stop you, so she tried to warp you into a demonic mockery of yourself. The same way she is trying to warp Lis."

Lis felt fear rise, but Catherine took hold of her hand and Lis felt comforted.

"She does not have that kind of power." That came from Fury who stared from Eliza to Catherine and then hissed as she glared at the Charred Council.

"She didn't. No." Empress Eliza agreed. "Not until the Council offered her a way out of her Master's ire."She shook her head. "I didn't understand when it was explained to me." She bowed her head. "I didn't understand at all. It seemed to make no sense what she did."

"It didn't!" Catherine declared.

"It did." Eliza corrected her. "If you realize that the Council's whole plan was to breach the barrier, find agents that could counter the Horsemen that they had alienated, and then find away to control said agents. Lis is supposed to be the means of control."

"They wanted me." Sara said savagely and Eliza nodded. "Bastards!"

"They won't get either of you." Eliza reassured the girl. "You see..." She smiled at the Council and her smile sent shivers down the spines of every thing that had spines. "They wanted me. Because of my ability to walk between realities. They didn't know about my other abilities. Those didn't come in until later." She shivered and the white Loki Prime laid a hand on her arm. She nodded to him and he retracted it. "I could likely be the ultimate weapon. I doubt even the Horsemen could resist my powers if I were to let them loose. But this is not my reality and I will never serve them."

"Never is a very long time, my dear." Lilith appeared nearby and she was not alone. She had not be en the one to speak. Instead, Helena, _Eliza's mother_, smiled wide at the Empress. "It is time to wake up, you silly little girl. Time to break yourself free of the chains that bind you and fulfill your destiny."

"You are so right." Eliza replied and everyone went still as _she_ smiled. _It matched her mother's for sheer evil! _"But not the one you think." She looked at the Creator Eliza who had bowed her head, face pale. "It is not her." The Empress reassured the other. "Our mother is dead and gone."

"Is that so?" Helena asked as she turned to Catherine. "Ah, Cathi. Do your duty. Restrained this errant offspring of mine." Power flared from her to strike Catherine who screamed as she was suddenly wreathed in agony. Familiar agony.

Everyone stared as Catherine jerked, but when the power faded, she smiled wide and her form solidified into a Gersemi Valkyr warframe.

"I think not." Catherine lashed out with both hands and the metal form Lis was encased in shattered.

"What?" Helena asked as Lis rose, her energy form freed from the shell it had been imprisoned in.

"Thank you for empowering my guardian and helping us free her from her prison of amnesia." Eliza said with a wide, grim smile as the Creator's hands flashed and Catherine jerked again, but then recovered. "Catherine Gata? Your memories have all been unlocked now. Good and bad. My mother hurt you far worse than she hurt me. This _fake_ is _yours, _Bladeborn." The Empress made a motion of dusting her hands off. Sealing Helena's fate.

"Thank you." Catherine said mildly. Then she drew her Glaive and charged.


	26. Chapter 26

**Prisons**

The huge crowd hadn't moved at all when Lilith had appeared with the being who looked like and claimed to be Eliza's mother had appeared.

Now they _did._

Catherine's charge bowled right into the suddenly not human woman. One moment, it was Eliza's mother, the next, some kind of demon and it was not smiling! The Tenno Bladeborn's charge carried both of them off a sort of lip into a depression that had to be fairly deep. From the sounds that then came from it? No one wanted to look too closely. The screams and sounds of sharp metal striking flesh were bad enough.

"What? No!" Lilith started to do something, but the Empress' rifle belched silent black fire and the demoness' right hand vanished. The human hadn't moved, hadn't seemed to _aim!_

"In this reality..." The Empress' voice was soft as Lilith stared at her in shock mixed with awe and more than hint of fear. "...the hosts of Heaven and the legions of Hell are immortal. Any who fall will be reborn with the coming new day. When Catherine is done with that fake, the impostor will be reborn. Hopefully never to trust a word you say again, Lilith." Lilith opened her mouth, but froze as the Empress aimed at one of the huge stone heads. "I am honestly curious." The human said mildly enough that more than one being winced. Perfectly calm, perfectly in control and scary as hell. "Will _you_ reform if I obliterate you?"

"_**You threaten the Balance!**_" One of the heads said. Not the one she was aiming at!

"_What_ Balance?" The Empress demanded, still mostly calm. One of the statues rumbled, but she wasn't done. "Yes, yes, I know a bunch of angels were naughty so you sent War to spank them. You didn't tell him why and you let him do what he does. When he found out why you did what you did.,.. Well..." She made a face. "Even for such as you and me, there are limits. You used one of your most powerful servants in a dishonorable fashion to clean up a mess and didn't tell him why." She heaved an utterly fake sigh. "Bad idea."

"They came into being to preserve the Balance." The Creator said sadly. "They don't know why or how."

"Do not empathize with them." The Empress said sternly and the Creator stiffened. "_Many_ of us here have hard jobs." She turned to the Horsemen. "They wanted you stopped or at least countered. They lost control of you."

"Never a good feeling." Death had been silent for quite a while, but he had a huge, two handed scythe in hand as he stood with his kin.

"I am not excusing why War started what he did, but in the end? He did what was needed." The Creator smiled at bit sadly at the red armored Horseman who met her gaze, impassive. "The Destroyer needed to be stopped or the whole Plan would have gone off the rails. It hurt him to realize he had been so abused. By Heaven or Hell, that is expected, but by the _Council?_" She shook her head and turned to face all of the Horsemen. "I did not know what to say when you four came to me, offered me your aid. I know you had reasons of your own. Everyone does. There is so much that I cannot do. Cannot say. I know you wanted vengeance, War. I hope I have not disappointed you too badly."

"You have not." War's rumble was quiet. "I have seen more than I should have. Vengeance is hollow. You offer more than I ever could have dreamed, Creator." He nodded to her. "I am honored to serve the Plan."

"They do not know the Plan. No one can but you." The Empress warned her other self. "Not even the Council can fathom it all. I can't." She admitted when Nikis, Will and the demon looked at her, curious. "I have abilities but also limits." She turned to here Lis stood in energy from beside Sara and shook her head. "Sara. Still breaking the rules?"

"She is my mother." Sara said with a growl. The Empress smiled but then shook her head.

"I am just glad your _other mother_ didn't show up." She winced and so did Nikis. "Poaching agents from other realities is not a good idea." The Empress turned back to the Council. "My ancestors learned very quickly not to do such things. Even pocket monster things that fit into tiny red and white balls can be _insanely_ hard to stop if you do not have a clue how. It cost my people a lot and my family far more over the millennia that Orokin ruled. This Creator is saving you from a universe's worth of hurt. You might want to listen to her."

"_**You will serve!**_" Still not the one she was aiming at! Lilith's hand flashed and it was flesh and bone again. She stood up tall.

"Will she?" Catherine's mocking voice heralded a head flying out of the pit to land at Lilith's feet. The horned demon head held a frozen expression of horror as the Valkyr warframe leaped right out to land beside the Empress. She looked at the crowd and then at the Creator and the Empress. Her gaze lit on Gemina Horati for a moment but neither of them moved. "What now?"

"Now, you are free." The Empress and the Creator said in unison. Catherine stared from one to the other and back.

"What?" Catherine asked, confused. "Um, don't we have a fight or something?"

"No." The Creator said quietly. "The Council have lost here and they know it. Even if, by some _miracle_..." She grinned and it was easy to see the very young Eliza in her for a moment. "...they managed to beat me, they wouldn't manage to beat the Empress. And even if they did? Guess who was just unmasked as an agent of the Council?"

The Prince of Hell was scowling at Lilith who sneered at him.

"I remember it all." Catherine said slowly. "All of it. The Prison. My kids. Helen..." She slumped and then stiffened. Two of the Tenno who had been there when she had gone in the pit were gone! Two Novas were conspicuous in their absence. "Where is Sera? Lilly?"

"I decided we had enough firepower, I sent them to talk to someone. Sera, Falcon, Rebekah and Lilly are chatting with a certain Lady." The Empress said with a small smile. "Oaths of silence are no good around telepaths. She wants to be Royal Guard to honor her mother. She asked me to send you her love. Falcon did too but she is still too weak to come home. Rebekah is staying with her until she is fit to travel."

"I cannot go back, can I?" Catherine asked, her voice husky.

"You can do anything you want." The Empress replied. "You are free of all prisons, oaths and duties. You have done all of what you set out to do. Now? You owe me, us, nothing! That was the plan all along."

"I don't understand." Catherine said softly when everyone turned to stare at her but the Creator and the Empress.

"What you went through at my mother's hands was horror on par with anything that any of the denizens of Hell in this reality could devise." The Empress said heavily. "The young me was driven insane by what she saw in your memories. Even after so long trying to get home, she had no idea what you endured in the month that my mother took to break you and then in her slavery. The young me made a promise to herself in that very moment you were rescued from the Prison. Before she made me and the Creator. Before she did _anything_ else, she swore to save you from what her mother did to you." The Empress sighed. "Then, you tried to help her, console her as she cried. You had done that so many times during the awful journey and she hurt you. She lashed out with forces she did not fully understand at the time. She didn't mean to. She hated herself for what she did and she scared every last one of us at times as she drove us all to find you. Then she found you and things got even messier. She knew you would eventually have to stop her and that scared her more than anything else. She knew what it would do to you to stop her and she would not allow it. So, she/we planned."

"Me?" Catherine stammered weakly. "But… I am just a Guard. I am not worth that."

"Bullshit." That came from _all_ of the Royal Guard who stood around the Empress, wary. Gemina just shook her head, silent.

"Catherine…." Empress Eliza was smiling again, but kinder now. "You are '_just_ a guard', the way I am '_just_ an Empress'." Nikis, Will and the demon lord all nodded at that. "True, in as far as it goes, but so inadequate a descriptor. Now, you have a true choice. Do not rush into anything, dear Catherine. You are who you were before my mother's evil. Before she locked you in a prison of lusts and pain. Make your own way now, but know that there are many who love you. My love is tempered by my other experinces, but it is still there."

"I… I need time to think." Catherine seemed at a loss for further words. The Tenno shrugged helplessly and Eliza smiled at her before turning to the Council. Her expression hardened into one that might charitably have been called 'cold'.

"Are you going to be stupid about this?" The Empress inquired of the stone heads. "Please say 'yes'." The Creator winced and more than a few of the varied beings around the area did the same. She paused as a cough came from the side.

"Much as I am loathe to stop this, since I _am_ enjoying watching you work." The Demon Lord spoke up slowly and everyone turned to where he was still leaning. "You _are_ very good at this, and I am enjoying watching you clean the floor with these stone fools. That said? Most of us do have pressing concerns." His smile as he eyed Lilith promised pain. "I would be the first to say, shoot and be done with it, Human Empress Elizabeth, but even my kind do understand that _some_ order is needed if just to know who to simper to when things go wrong. Killing the Council, while it may be fun, may prove detrimental in the long term." He looked as if he couldn't believe he had just said that and Lilith's mouth had fallen open as well.

"Responsibility truly sucks sometimes. Ranks has its perks but also its burdens." The Empress agreed. "That said, we _all_ owe your former subordinate quite a bit of pain for me _and_ for Catherine. We drew lots for who would get the chance to hurt her." She scoffed. "It took a while."

An armored woman stepped out of the crowd. Like all of the others who seemed close to human, she had Eliza's face. Her lightweight armor was blue and looked functional and … Wait. Were her eyes glowing? Or smoldering? The long staff she hefted pulsed with eerie silver blue light. She held the staff oddly, more to shoot with it than to hit with it.

"I am not stopping you." The Demon Prince actually held up empty hands! "Whatever you do, she earned. She will be reborn come the new day and then _we_ will talk." His cold grin seemed to freeze the room.

"I still think she cheated somehow." The Creator said mildly as the newly come Eliza aimed her staff at Lilith who gaped at her. "Trusting Grey Wardens to play by any kind of rules is a bad idea." The Empress shrugged and the Creator made a face. "Then again, _who_ taught us all to cheat?"

"I am pure as the driven snow." The Empress quipped and everyone laughed but Lilith and the Council.

"_Yellow snow._ That one is not darkspawn but it might as well be." The blue armored woman's voice was harsh but not from emotion. More from the memory of pain and screaming orders over the din of battle. Her staff flashed and a circle of energy that matched her silvery eyes appeared around Lilith who lashed out and hit something that zapped her. The suddenly wary demoness hit it harder and it zapped her harder. "The Static Cage will hold this one for the moment. We have time to finish this."

"Yes, time." The Empress turned to Catherine who was shaking her head. "Catherine, be calm. You are safe. As safe as you can be in a reality that is not ours."

"My boys." Catherine said weakly. "What did she do to my boys?"

"I don't know." The Empress was sad now. "I know they are not in our reality or this one. Beyond that? I have no idea."

"We are looking." Will said very quietly from where he stood. The Empress ignored him. Catherine looked from him to the Empress and back.

"I was not the only one imprisoned, am I?" Catherine said very softly and suddenly, no one seemed to be_ breathing_ as the Empress spun to face her. The Tenno started walking, but not towards the Empress. The crowd made way for her as she strode to where the dragon in human form stood. "You hurt the Empress, very badly. She cared for you and while you never lied outright to her, lies of omission are still lies."

"They are and often hurt worse." The warden of reality agreed. He held out a hand to her and she looked at him. "You do not owe me anything. If anything, I owe you. I knew what they wanted. I didn't say. I didn't care. I wanted my friend to live!" The Tenno slowly held out her hand and a small object fell from his to land in hers. "I do not know if we can find your boys, but I am going to try."

"Do or do not. There is no try." Catherine replied coldly. The warden nodded. No, he _bowed to her!_

"As you wish, Yoda." The warden rose from his bow, smiled and vanished. But his voice spoke again from nowhere. "Don't get any ideas." That was to the Demon Prince and the Council! "We are watching."

"As are we." The Empress said with a growl as Lilith hit the prison she was in with something that made her yowl in pain. Many of the others were vanishing as Catherine turned to the Empress. "What did he give you?"

"I don't know." Catherine stared at the small metal thing. The metal was red and crinkly. It wasn't heavy. It was about half the size of her smallest finger and felt almost squishy in her palm. "I do not know what this is."

"It is a foil wrapped chocolate." The Creator sounded a bit husky as Catherine and the Empress both turned to look at her. "_Empress_." She begged as the Empress turned away.

"I am still angry." The woman finally lowered her rifle and most of the remaining beings relaxed a little. "That will not likely change."

"Not unless you want it to." That came from Fury! She nodded to Catherine and smiled as Catherine nodded back. "Good luck, Tenno."

"And to you, Fury." Catherine slumped a bit more. "What now?"

"Now, Sara and Lis go home. Lis probably spanks Sara fairly thoroughly." The Empress did not react as Sara stiffened. "Then I get to talk to various people." She looked at the Loki Prime who still hadn't left her side. "And so do _you_."

"I know." Wait a sec! That was _Sun! _Former Grandmaster Tenno and now, what? There was no way that Catherine could _ever_ forget _his_ voice! It held more emotion now that she had ever heard from it before. "Frankly? I am not looking forward to it, but I do owe her an explanation at the very least." He nodded to Catherine who stood stunned. "And you."

"You took the kids." Catherine said weakly. "When my memories were destroyed, you took the kids. Said they were your family."

"They were. They are. So are you." Sun shrugged. "I said they were long lost siblings and no one pressed too close. I had a reputation by then."

"That you did." The Empress smiled but then she turned back to the Council. "Do I need to say it?" Pure menace sang in her words.

"Say it! Please! _Pretty please with sugar on top!_" Nikis was laughing softly. "Please make 'er madder!" The Demon Lord beside the pitch black Nekros was chuckling softly.

"Grandmaster! Hush!" Came from both the Creator and the Empress.

The Royal Guard hadn't moved. Hadn't shifted from their barrier around Empress Eliza and Sun. All of the other Tenno but one had vanished now. A familiar white Nidus warframe stepped up to Catherine who was staring at the foil wrapped thing in her hand.

"What do you want to do?" Karl asked quietly. Catherine stared at him, non-comprehending. "Whatever you choose, you do not have to do it alone."

"You do not remember me." Catherine said sadly.

"I don't care." Karl replied. "You are not alone."

"That is _not_ a conversation to have _here_." The Creator said firmly and the Empress nodded. Only one other Eliza was still present and the Grey Warden smiled a bit as Lilith hit the barrier again and screeched in agony again. The Creator eyed the demon and then frowned at the blue armored woman. "Did you…?" Everyone jumped as Lilith _exploded!_ Gore smeared pieces of demon flew every which way. The Creator gave a halfhearted groan. "Never mind. Effective, but messy."

"Walking Bomb _is_ a bit messy." The Grey Warden allowed but she was smiling wide. "But if _anyone_ deserved that? _She_ did."

"'Walking'-?" The ancient Eliza froze. "Tell me that wasn't _Virulent!_" The Creator pleaded but the Grey Warden just smiled wider and vanished.

"'Virulent'?" Catherine asked as everyone tensed.

"It spreads! _We _are far enough away to be safe." The Creator said weakly. "Um..." She sighed as a silver glow started around each of the statue heads. "I think we are about to find out if they can revive from being blown up. Empress… We will talk." The Horsemen vanished in a haze of golden light. Fallen angels and demons did the same, the few hale ones gone just as swiftly.

"We will." The Empress promised and held out her hand to Catherine who took it. Then they were elsewhere. The Royal Quarters on Avalon were still. It was 'night'. Not that such mattered on a space station right next to the Sun, but the Royal Family had always tried to keep the place on as Earth normal a schedule as possible. Traditional. The Royal Guard, Karl and Sun followed them into being and Catherine relaxed a little as no one (and _nothing!_) else followed. The Empress nodded. "Sara and Lis are back on Mars. Better stay away when Lis wakes up. It will likely be loud. Ancestors only know where Nikis went. He may have stayed to _watch_. That 'Walking Bomb' spell is so messy."

"'_Walking_… _Bomb_…'?" Catherine asked, incredulous.

"What can I say? No matter the reality, we get a bit extreme when we get angry." The Empress asked with a shrug as the door flew open and Jesse all but flew in, her hair a mess and her gown askew. She didn't care, making a beeline for Eliza who smiled. She let Jesse slam into her and cling. She hugged her daughter tight. Michelle came in with a bit more decorum, but with a wide smile as she saw the group whole.

"Don't do that to me again!" Jesse begged through tears as Draco entered the room and took up station by the door.

"I cannot make such a promise, Jesse. I will do my best." Eliza sighed as she hugged Jesse. "We all need to talk now. We all need to figure out where to go next from here."

"Yes. But first..." Catherine held out the chocolate to the Empress who stared at it. "Don't make me break your prison down." She glared at Eliza. "You know I will."

"Yes. I know you will. I am angry, but… _He_ did mean well." Eliza reached around Jesse to take the chocolate. She expertly unwrapped it with one hand and popped it into her mouth, smiling a bit sadly as she swallowed.

"What was that, Mother?" Michelle asked as the Royal Guard took up station around the room. Catherine wanted to join them, but she wasn't Guard now, was she?

"An old promise kept from an old friend."


	27. Chapter 27

**Epilogue**

Somewhere outside of time and space

"If you _ever_ go back there, she will kill you. Liza is _not_ someone to piss off and you _did_."

The voice of the dragon who called himself Will was calm but tension sang around the large, well appointed room. A dozen assorted forms, some human shaped, others not even close, sat or stood around the room, watching the discussion with a mix of amusement and worry.

"She cannot stop me!" Helen declared from where she stood against one wall. The Hildryn warframe still had her weapons, no one had bothered to taker them from her. She did not draw them. She was surrounded by wardens and even her arrogance had limits.

"Yes, she can." Will retorted. He was in his human shape since the room was not really large enough for his true form. "She has killed Tenno before. One who tried to cross the barrier. Another who tried to kill her protector. You are powerful, girl, but you have _no_ chance against Liza. Hell, _we_ don't!" He shook his head and many of the others nodded agreement. "Your mother asked us to keep you away to save your life. Liza let you go for _one_ reason. Because _Catherine_ asked it. You owe your mother your life."

"I owe that witch nothing!" Helen snapped. "She left me!"

"She did not know you _existed!_" Will replied, scorn oozing from every pore. "You know that. Just as you know what happened to your brothers." Helen stared at him and he scoffed. "Or did you think we sat on our hands while the many Eliza's plotted?"

"You cannot hold me!" Helen declared, her hand on her Sicarus Prime.

"Actually, we can and will." The dragon in human seeming replied. "But first? You are going to tell us what you and the mad one did to your brothers. You are going to do it now."

"Or what?" Helen snapped. "You will torture me?"

"Nothing so kind. This will not hurt." The dragon made a gesture and Helen's warframe stilled. Silver energy held it in place and slowly cut into it. In moments, it fell away from a very surprised looking female Tenno. The pieces vanished as they fell along with her weapons. The same energy that had destroyed her warframe clasped around her and forced her to a sitting position on the floor. She could not move or speak. "This _will_."

Another warden rose from where it had been seated and it wasn't human! It had a large conical had and a face that was utterly alien, but it was where the mouth would be on a human that drew the eye. The many tendrils that came down from the bottom of the face writhed.

"I do not like this." The alien form was neither male nor female, but seemed slightly masculine. "She will resist. It will cause harm."

"Less harm that Eliza will do." Raviine said from where she sat, staring out a window into deep space. "We made her very angry. I just wanted to help." She said weakly. "She was so hurt, so lost, so alone. I wanted to help her!"

"I did too. We all did." Will said heavily as the alien form approached Helen. The Tenno stared at it in horror as the tendrils opened and a wide, suckered mouth appeared underneath them. "But sometimes? The only proper answer is to do nothing. I forgot that and she paid for it. Her and Catherine both. We need to know, Sarissoliao. We need to know what she does and none of our dedicated telepaths are available."

"This goes very much against the grain but the need is acknowledged. I too liked Elizabeth." The alien knelt down behind Helen and laid oddly gentle hands on her skull. The tendrils swept around her head, pulling it closer and closer to his mouth. Also secreting a potent toxin that paralyzied her. "This will hurt, Tenno, but I will be quick and as gentle as I can be."

Then the Illithid bit down and Helen could not even scream as he fed. There was a _reason_ his kind were called 'Mind Flayers'.

* * *

A bit later

"Sharlina will be very annoyed with all of us." The tentacle faced being said quietly as Helen was laid out on a bed, the gaping wound on her skull treated. He was far gentler than most of his kind. Most Illithid on feeding wouldn't simply take the chemicals that made up memories in most sentient forms, they would take the whole brain, killing their meal in the process. One of many reasons they were feared and hated. He was a basic telepath, but not very powerful as such. He didn't need to be. "Me especially."

"I did rush and I apologize. I know you do not like doing that ever since Sharlina cured you of your hunger. Did we have time?" Will asked.

"No. We did not." The Mind Flayer replied, his face to the floor. "What I found… We need to tell them as soon as possible, but if any of us go to that reality any time soon, Elizabeth will likely make good on her threat."

"She never made idle threats that I know of." Raviine said quietly. "How bad?"

"Bad. The boys are likely alive. That is the _only_ good news." The tentacle faced being laid a hand on Helen's arm but she did not stir. She would not until healed. Her memory had just been wiped completely clean by the Illithid's judicious feeding. "She thought Catherine responsible for what happened to them. That is what the mad one told her."

"She wasn't. Was she?" Will asked and the Illithid shook his head. "Damn."

"No." The human shaped monster sat beside Helen's bed and sighed. "Helen figured out that her mother had never been involved too late. Her hatred for her mother made her easy to manipulate. It will be better if she does not remember. This was wrong but what happened to Catherine's other kids was worse."

"We wardens do many awful things in the name of a greater good." Will agreed. "Sarissoliao? You are the gentlest of all of us present for such things. Without a dedicated telepath, which we have none, she will need a lot of help to recover, to heal. With her entire memory gone, she will need retraining. You can help her. When she wakes, you can do as you wish. She can be your apprentice if you wish." The Illithid thought about that and then nodded. "One thing." The dragon warned. "Don't lie. When she is capable of understanding, tell her what happened. All of it; good, bad, indifferent. This is on me. _I_ bear responsibility for all of this."

"No!" Everyone chorused.

"We need to try and fix what we can of this. Liza is so mad at us and we _have_ to keep watch on that reality." Will slumped. "Sharlina, Zephyr, Galintra and Oris are all busy. Tell me what you found and I will take it to someone who Liza won't shoot on sight."

"You do not want to know, my friend." Sarissoliao said very quietly.

"No." Will slumped. "I probably don't. But it is the job."

The Mind Flayer looked as pensive as his kind could and then started to explain. It was a good thing Helen was comatose. The sheer rage that was evoked in the room would have woken anyone from a lesser slumber.

* * *

A far different reality

"Lady? I have news."

Will was very careful not to move as he materialized in the presence of the Ethereal who called herself Lady or Helen Cooper in select groups. Several people were aiming at him. If he hadn't been who and what he was, he would have run away from Colonel Kelly or the Lotus. But it was Angela Weaver whose innocuous looking pistol worried him more. Such weapons could and had torn wardens apart. Like angels and demons in another reality, they would reform, but it always hurt like hell.

"News of Catherine?" Falcon said as she hovered nearby. She broke off with an all too human gulp as her Mother glared at her. "Sorry."

"None of you will want to hear this." The dragon said quietly. "But you asked that any news be brought to you, Lady. Liza will kill me or any of us that she sees. Heaven knows, she has the right."

"Thank you for admitting that!" The Lotus snarled, her Dex Sybaris not wavering from where it was aimed. His head.

"Rebekah." The Lady's voice held gentle rebuke and the Lotus nodded.

"What was done so long ago was wrong." Will said calmly. "Every one of us agree with that. The fact that one of Liza's ancestors managed to stop the breach without our help gave us hope for the first time in far too long. What we did..." He bowed his head. "There can be no excuse. So many of Liza's family paid the price for our desperation. We knew it still existed, that the Royal Family was using it."

"Being _abused_ by it." A new form shimmered into view. Rebekah's mother was as unhappy as the rest of them, but only present as a hologram. "That was just plain wrong!"

"I agree." Will said quietly. "I loved Naomi. I love Liza and I cannot..." He bowed his head further. "I cannot change the past." He looked at Falcon who stilled in place. "And you _will_ _not_. Trying to fix _this _would kill you."

"We are all on the same page." The Lady said softly. "Falcon's power is dangerous, to her and many others. She bears many scars from its use and does not wish to use it further. She has asked me if I can bar it in her mind. I cannot." Sorrow sang in her tone.

"Thank you for trying, Lady." Falcon's tone was warm.

"Your power is as dangerous as Liza's is. Yes." The warden shook his head. "I wish I could help but your family would not react well."

"Not a chance!" The Lotus and her Mother chorused.

"You found Catherine's boys?" Falcon asked when no one else spoke.

"Yes and no." Will said softly and everyone tensed. "We found where they were taken. But before that? They were mindwiped. They are not Catherine's boys anymore."

"I was afraid the mad one had given them to Stalker or something." The Lotus said softly.

"She was insane." Will said quietly. "What she did was insane. Such a fate as you feared could have been undone. This? No. We cannot interfere there."

"Where?" The Lotus demanded.

"A reality both familiar and not. One we are barred from. They have their own wardens." Will shook his head. "This must not be bandied about." He warned.

"I will be in touch." Colonel Kelly glared at the dragon in human form before vanishing. Weaver didn't move, didn't shift her aim.

"Angela." The Lady said softly, but with command. "He won't hurt me. Go."

"I don't trust him!" The raven haired woman snapped.

"Don't." Will agreed and everyone stared at him. "I failed Liza. I failed Catherine. I have failed her boys. I… Helen didn't know why she was sent there! She didn't know why she was carrying two unconscious humans there. She did not know they were her brothers until she returned. The wardens of that reality do not like us. Liza's copies do not like us. We have earned the ire of both groups, but this? No." He shook his head again. "They will like this _less._"

"_Where_ are Catherine's _boys?_" The Lotus demanded as Falcon flared.

"In the reality where Catherine found her black armored judge." Will said quietly. "Their memories were wiped and they were remade as fully human. The mad one was gentle and thorough." Everyone recoiled. "I know where they were sent, but nothing beyond that. It was an orphanage of sorts."

"I kind of hoped those were the boys that Helen brought into the Tower." The Lotus said softly. "They were not?"

"No." Will replied. "After she returned to your reality? Helen rescued children in distress. She felt it her punishment for what she did. She thought it was at her mother's behest that she took those boys to a place far away and realized after that they were her brothers. She realized just a little too late that it wasn't Catherine's doing and that made her rage fester even more. She blamed Catherine for everything. She will likely never return to your reality and even if she does someday? We tore her mind apart getting this information. She will not be the same Tenno."

"Eliza will still kill her if she can." The Lotus warned and Will nodded.

"I want to tell Catherine in person, but I cannot." Will said heavily. "Liza has every right to hurt me. We made this mess. We created this. We set these events into motion. We were trying to save Liza, but that doesn't excuse kidnapping and imprisonment, which is what Raviine _did_. We wardens cannot fix this. I am trying to find a way that _I_ can. There are few wardens available and none who could go there. We are spread too thin."

"_You_ are." The Lotus said very quietly. She looked at her Mother. "We owe her."

"We do." The huge green Sentient said firmly. "And then Catherine is technically family now since she all but adopted Falcon, so…" Will stared at her, jaw falling open and Mother pulsed green. Was she amused? "Problem?"

"_No!_" The warden said quickly enough that everyone chuckled. "I have enough problems with my _own_ family!" He sighed. "Of which Helen is now a member. It will take some time for her to heal what we did and then? She will not return to your reality if I have any say in the matter at all." He said firmly to the Lotus who nodded. "I do not know what kind of personality will grow, but we will keep an eye on her."

"Um..." A new voice was not familiar to many, but the Lotus jerked as a familiar horse appeared out of nowhere. The white horse that sounded like Eliza! The one who had carried the Lotus away from the extra reality fortress. "Is this a bad time, Lady?"

"No, Elizabetta." The Lady sounded old and tired. "I do not think there is a _good_ time for this kind of thing, but it is no worse than yesterday was."

"Um, the egg hatched and she wants to talk to..." She stared at Will and went completely still. "Oh dear."

"If I am a problem, I will leave." Will offered. "I can give coordinates, but I cannot go there. The Bladeborn..." He broke off as the horse threw her head. A nod?

"...do not take kindly to your trespass." The horse said with a growl that was utterly unlike anything that any normal horse might make. "We will handle this."

"They are not going to let _you_ in there either!" Will warned.

"If I do not try to sneak in, yes they will." Another new voice. A female form, humanoid but not a human. Her skin was metal and her hands were tools of some kind. They looked medical in nature. Some kind of robot? The face was sort of Catherine's but stiff metal with black skin and an odd symbol on the shoulder. The Lotus stared at it and then blanched. "It is all right, Lotus." The being said with a nod. "This was planned for too."

"Oh?" Will inquired. "You know where she took the boys?"

"No." The newcomer said quietly, but menace sang in her tone as she turned to the warden who had frozen. "Helen refused to tell her and hid the memory far too deep to pry out without causing irreparable harm. She told you." Not a question.

"Not 'told'. We did harm her getting it but we will care for her." Will admitted, but no one reacted and he continued. "She took them to a specific orphanage on Vardos. She left them there."

"We will handle it, warden. Be gone." The metal woman commanded.

"We _owe_ her!" Will all but pleaded. "We may not be able to go there, but we _can_ help!"

"And we cannot _trust_ you." Came from the Lotus and the horse. The horse continued. "If they sense _anything_ of your energy there, they will react _badly_."

"Is there anything we -_I!_ – can do?" Will did beg now. "I like Catherine too!"

"And that is the problem!" The metal being said sternly. "You are too close. You will _not_ react well to seeing what they are likely now. Could you stop yourself if they shot at you?"

"I... I don't know." Will conceded the point. "They were Tenno. They likely passed every test with flying colors. I… I want to help."

"_We_ are not the ones who will need help." The droid said. "Because when the _Bladeborn_ realize what the First Order has likely done to Catherine's boys? Things are going to get messy."

"It always does around them." Will sighed deeply and nodded. When he spoke again, it was deep and formal. "I owe her. We owe her, but I owe Catherine so much more. If I may aid in any way, send word. Not to the wardens. To _me_. I swear it by my name and honor. So swears Kalenath aul Rauglothcagor." He gave his full, true name and everyone in the room stilled as he bowed to the metal woman and vanished.

"He will not break that oath." The metal woman broke the silence that greeted his departure. "Not after what his sister did to him. He will never break that oath." She offered the Lotus who sighed.

"I know." The Lotus slumped. "I cannot go. Being here is straining my limits even with the Lady's aid." The metal woman shook her head. "Can any of us?" She stilled as the metal woman looked at Falcon who seemed to perk up. "Falcon! No! You are not healed!"

"She _gave_ the reproduction tech to us, Mother." Falcon said as she hovered closer to the metal woman. "She could have asked us to destroy it, instead, she gave us hope! What right have I to stand aside if I can repay any of that debt?"

The Lotus looked at the holo of her mother who seemed to slump.

"Serves us right for teaching children honor and responsibility. It will take time to adapt to our needs, but it will work. I am seeking a suitable nest, hidden and defensible." The large Sentient replied. "Lady?" She pleaded.

"Falcon is as well as I can make her. She _does_ need rest." The Ethereal warned.

"Even with a starting point, it is a big galaxy to search." The metal woman agreed. "We will have help and they are odd to say the least. I will keep an eye on her and not let her overdo it again."

"Please?" The Lotus begged Falcon who did not react. "Falcon, I..."

"I love you, Mother, but I love Catherine too." Falcon heaved sigh and turned to face the metal being. "What do I call you?"

"Call me CA-E1." The metal woman had a smile in her voice that did not show on her face. "I am neither of my progenitors. Catherine stopped the mad one and we must aid her boys."

"Will it hurt?" Falcon was a bit timid as she swept close to the other. No one blamed her.

"No." CA-E1 reassured her.

"Where are we going?" Falcon laid an appendage on the other's hand and they were flying or falling, But she wasn't afraid. Not now.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Vardos. I might have known. Catherine's boys are likely stormtroopers. Tenno are the best soldiers in your reality, so it stands to reason they would be in demand for such a role." The very strange droid replied. "To hunt First Order stormtroopers, we need to know how such think."

"What little I know about those does not fill me with pleasure." Falcon said weakly. "How do we hunt such who will likely shoot us on sight?"

"Carefully." The droid replied with grim humor. "But first? We are going to a world called Sulon to see a man named Kyle Katarn."

* * *

**I am betting any fan of Star Wars video games knows who Kyle Katarn is/was before Disney took over Lucasfilm and retconned him out of existence. Jedi Outcast is still one of the best games I have ever played. The story will continue in my next fic. This ran longer than usual and I hope it made sense. Then again, does any of my stuff make sense?**


End file.
